Table 1. Baseline characteristics of the patients.
| Characteristic | AZA (N = 77) | IFN (N = 73) | p-value1 |
| Demographic characteristics | |||
| Female – No. (%) | 49 (63.6%) | 50 (68.5%) | p = 0.53 |
| Age - Years | |||
| Mean ± SD | 38.1±8.9 | 36.6±8.8 | p = 0.31 |
| Median (range) | 37.9 (21.3–56.5) | 37.6 (19.1–58.8) | |
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Duration of disease from onset of symptoms - Years | |||
| Mean ± SD | 6.8±7.1 | 5.7±5.7 | |
| Median (range) | 3.4 (0.5–25.3) | 3.4 (0.3–24.8) | p = 0.53 |
| Relapses in previous 2 years | |||
| Mean ± SD | 2.38±0.78 | 2.41±0.89 | |
| Median (range) | 2 (0–5) | 2 (0–6) | p = 0.91 |
| No. patients with relapses in previous 2 years - No. (%) | |||
| 0–12 | 3 (3.9%) | 2 (2.7%) | |
| 2 | 48 (62.3%) | 47 (64.4%) | p = 0.91 |
| ≥3 | 26 (33.8%) | 24 (32.9%) | |
| No. patients with previous histories of … - No. (%) | |||
| AZA treatment | 1 (1.3%) | 1 (1.4%) | p = 0.95 |
| IFN treatment | 4 (5.2%) | 3 (4.1%) | |
| EDSS score3 | |||
| Mean ± SD | 1.9±0.9 | 1.9±0.9 | |
| Median (range) | 1.5 (1.0–5.5) | 1.5 (0.0–5.0) | p = 0.86 |
| Patients with concomitant diseases – No. (%)4 | 5 (6.9%) | 4 (5.8%) | p = 0.80 |
Abbreviations: AZA, azathioprine; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale; IFN, interferon; SD, standard deviation.
1
P-values for AZA vs. IFN comparison were obtained through: χ2 test with one or two degrees of freedom for sex, number of patients with previous histories of AZA/IFN treatment, number of patients with relapses with concomitant disease and with Gd+ lesions; t-test for age; Mann-Whitney test for duration of disease, number of relapses, EDSS score, number of Gd+ lesions and T2 lesion load.
2
Protocol violations.
3
Scores on the EDSS range from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating greater degree of disability.
4
The sum does not add up to the total because of some missing values.