Table 1.
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the Spanish patients with RA included in the study.
| Clinical feature | % (n/N) |
|---|---|
| Patients | 2140 |
| Main characteristics | |
| Age at the time of disease onset (years, mean ± SD) | 52.4 ± 14.9 |
| Follow-up (years, mean ± SD) | 12.2 ± 8.8 |
| Percentage of women | 75.1 |
| Rheumatoid factor positive* | 67.9 (1388/2044) |
| Anti-CCP antibodies positive | 59.2 (1058/1786) |
| Shared epitope positive | 62.4 (736/1180) |
| Erosions | 54.7 (940/1718) |
| Extra-articular manifestations** | 31.5 (540/1715) |
| Cardiovascular risk factors | |
| Hypertension | 38.7 (817/2108) |
| Diabetes mellitus | 12.2 (258/2108) |
| Dyslipidemia | 37.3 (786/2108) |
| Obesity | 16.8 (355/2108) |
| Smoking habit | 23.8 (502/2108) |
| Patients with cardiovascular events | 17.6 (377/2140) |
| Ischemic heart disease | 8.3 (179/2140) |
| Heart failure | 5.3 (113/2140) |
| Cerebrovascular accident | 5.3 (114/2140) |
| Peripheral arteriopathy | 2.3 (50/2140) |
RA: rheumatoid arthritis; SD: standard deviation; Anti-CCP antibodies: anticyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies.
*At least two determinations were required for analysis of this result.
**Extra-articular manifestations of the disease (if RA patients experienced at least one of the following manifestations: nodular disease, Felty's syndrome, pulmonary fibrosis, rheumatoid vasculitis, or secondary Sjögren's syndrome) [4].