Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of patients with systemic sclerosis
| Total | Medical intervention | No medical intervention | |
|---|---|---|---|
| N=226 | N=191 | N=35 | |
| Sociodemographics | |||
| Age, years, mean (SD) | 54 (14.5) | 54.5 (14.9) | 51.4 (11.5) |
| Female, N (%) | 186 (82) | 157 (82) | 29 (83) |
| Caucasian origin, N (%) | 151 (67) | 127 (67) | 24 (69) |
| Smoking, current, N (%) | 32 (14) | 28 (15) | 4 (11) |
| Education level, N (%)* | |||
| Low | 89 (41) | 76 (41) | 13 (39) |
| Medium | 78 (36) | 68 (36) | 10 (30) |
| High | 53 (24) | 43 (23) | 10 (30) |
| Disease characteristics, N (%) | |||
| DcSSc | 73 (32) | 62 (33) | 11 (31) |
| mRSS, median (IQR) | 3 (1–6) | 4 (1–6) | 2 (2–6) |
| Disease duration, years, median (IQR) | 4 (1–11) | 3 (1–11) | 4 (1–10) |
| Onset of Raynaud's phenomenon, years, median (IQR)* | 12 (5–20) | 12 (5–20) | 10 (5–201) |
| Onset of non-Raynaud's phenomenon, years, median (IQR)† | 6 (3–13) | 6 (2–13) | 6 (3–11) |
| Digital ulcers | 62 (28) | 57 (30) | 5 (14) |
| Telangiectasia | 133 (59) | 118 (62) | 15 (43) |
| Synovitis | 23 (10) | 21 (11) | 2 (6) |
| Tendon friction rubs | 8 (4) | 6 (3) | 2 (6) |
| Proximal muscular weakness | 14 (6) | 13 (7) | 1 (3) |
| Pulmonary crackles | 64 (29) | 57 (30) | 7 (20) |
| Renal crisis | 10 (5) | 10 (5) | 0 (0) |
| Autoantibodies, N (%) | |||
| ANA positivity | 209 (93) | 177 (93) | 32 (91) |
| Anti-Scl-70 positivity‡ | 50 (26) | 43 (27) | 7 (21) |
| Anti-centromere positivity‡ | 77 (40) | 62 (38) | 15 (48) |
| Cardiopulmonary investigations | |||
| Vital capacity % of predicted, mean (SD)* | 96 (82–109) | 94 (21) | 99 (24) |
| DLCO % of predicted, mean (SD)* | 62 (50–75) | 62 (18) | 67 (13) |
| UIP according HRCT, N (%) | 70 (31) | 57 (30) | 13 (37) |
| NSIP according HRCT, N (%) | 69 (31) | 62 (33) | 7 (21) |
| SPAP >35 mm Hg, N (%) | 43 (19) | 40 (21) | 3 (9) |
| LVEF, mean (SD) | 58 (7.1) | 61 (8) | 60 (7) |
| Pericardial fluid, N (%) | 10 (4) | 9 (5) | 1 (3) |
| Arrhythmia, N (%) | 55 (24) | 50 (27) | 5 (15) |
| Conduction defect, N (%) | 21 (9) | 20 (11) | 1 (3) |
| 6-min walk distance, meters, mean (SD) | 498 (136) | 490 (142) | 540 (93) |
| CPET; maximum VO2% of predicted, mean (SD) | 91 (12) | 87 (25) | 96 (24) |
| Immunosuppressive therapy | |||
| Current | 77 (34) | 68 (36) | 9 (26) |
| Previous | 88 (39) | 72 (38) | 16 (46) |
| SHAQ (0–3), median (IQR)† | 0.6 (0.3–1.1) | 0.8 (0.3–1.1) | 0.3 (0–0.6) |
| SF-36, median (IQR)‡ | |||
| Physical Component Summary Scale | 40.1 (32–49.5) | 38 (30.1–47.9) | 48.3 (42.3–53.8) |
| Mental Component Summary Scale | 51.5 (40–56.1) | 51.3 (39–56.1) | 54.4 (40.1–56.5) |
*<5% missing.
†<10% missing.
‡<15% missing.
ANA, antinuclear antibody; DcSSc, diffuse cutaneous SSc; DLCO, diffusing capacity for carbon monoxide; MRSS, modified Rodnan Skin Score; NSIP, non-specific interstitial pneumonia; SF-36, Short-Form-36; SHAQ, Scleroderma Health Assessment Questionnaire; SPAP, systolic pulmonary arterial pressure; UIP, usual interstitial pneumonia; VO2 max, maximum volume oxygen.