Table 3.
Characteristics of 35 nondiabetic rheumatoid arthritis patients (29 women, 11 with hypertension, 10 with dyslipidaemia, 11 smokers) who were matched 1:1 with 'healthy' control subjects for sex, age (59.6 ± 11.4 years) and other traditional cardiovascular risk factors present both at baseline and at follow-up enda
| Parameters | Matched 'healthy' control subjects | Subgroup of 35 RA patients |
|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 35 | 35 |
| Follow-up (months) | 40.4 ± 3.4 | 41.4 ± 3.3 |
| hs-CRP (mg/dl) | ||
| Baseline | 0.1 (0.05, 0.2) | 0.3 (0.2, 0.6) |
| Follow-up end | 0.2 (0.08, 0.3) | 0.4 (0.2, 0.8) |
| Traditional CV risk factors | ||
| Hypertension (mmHg) | ||
| SBP baseline | 122.7 ± 21.0 | 127.0 ± 20.0 |
| SBP follow-up end | 123.6 ± 19.1 | 128.6 ± 13.9 |
| DBP baseline | 75.6 ± 12.0 | 76.9 ± 9.5 |
| DBP follow-up end | 75.9 ± 8.9 | 80.4 ± 7.5 |
| Dyslipidaemia (mg/dl) | ||
| LDL baseline | 141.3 ± 42.6 | 136.4 ± 35.6 |
| LDL follow-up end | 128.3 ± 31.0 | 116.2 ± 34.0 |
| Smoking | ||
| Pack-years at baseline | 0.0 (0.0, 35.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 21.4) |
| Pack-years during follow-up | 0.0 (0.0, 3.0) | 0.0 (0.0, 1.5) |
| BMI (kg/m2) | ||
| Baseline | 25.3 ± 4.3 | 26.5 ± 4.0 |
| Follow-up end | 25.5 ± 4.1 | 26.9 ± 4.7 |
aBMI: body mass index, CV: cardiovascular, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, hs-CRP: high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, LDL: low-density lipoprotein, SBP: systolic blood pressure. Paired t-tests and Wilcoxon tests were used for all comparisons of the matched groups as appropriate. Variables are expressed as mean ± SD or as median (lower and upper quartiles). Comparisons between subgroups after Bonferroni correction did not reach significance.