Table 2.

Disease characteristics and medication use in the RA patients with carotid plaque compared to the RA patients without carotid plaque^*

	Patients with plaque (n = 72)	Patients without plaque (n = 96)	P
No. of tender joints (28-joint count)	8±8	8±8	0.76
No. of swollen joints (28-joint count)	4 ± 5	4 ± 5	0.54
DAS28	4.4 ± 1.8	4.3 ± 2.0	0.75
Patient's assessment of pain, 0–100-mm VAS	39 ± 29	41 ± 31	0.60
Patient's global assessment of disease activity, 0–100-mm VAS	42 ± 29	42 ± 31	0.79
Physician's global assessment of disease activity, 0–100-mm VAS	35 ± 21	40 ± 27	0.45
Patient's assessment of stiffness, 0–100-mm VAS	35 ± 29	38 ± 29	0.60
Patient's assessment of fatigue, 0–100-mm VAS	45 ± 29	42 ± 27	0.51
HAQ DI score	1.0 ± 0.79	0.97 ± 0.87	0.72
Medication use, %
Cholesterol-lowering drugs	36	13	0.0006
NSAIDs	36	30	0.50
Prednisone	36	19	0.02
Methotrexate	54	60	0.52
Leflunomide	8	12	0.61
Hydroxychloroquine	17	18	0.84
TNFα inhibitors	43	40	0.75
Other biologic agents	13	9	0.45

^*Except where indicated otherwise, values are the mean ± SD. RA = rheumatoid arthritis; DAS28 = Disease Activity Score in 28 joints; VAS = visual analog scale; HAQ DI = Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index; NSAIDs = nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs; TNFα = tumor necrosis factor α.