Table 3.

Characteristics of cases and matched controls within six months before the MI/index date

	Cases n = 105	Controls n = 105	P value
CRP, mg/L, mean (SD)	17.6 (25.0)	10.4 (14.6)	0.011
ESR, mm/h, mean (SD)	36.1 (26.5)	22.6 (16.2)	<0.001
DAS28, mean (SD)	4.3 (1.4)	4.0 (1.5)	0.22
Tender joint count, mean (SD)	4.2 (5.0)	4.4 (5.6)	0.71
Swollen joint count, mean (SD)	3.8 (5.0)	4.6 (5.4)	0.17
NRS patient global health 0–10, mean (SD)	5.1 (2.2)	4.9 (2.0)	0.41
FFbH, mean (SD)	58.7 (27.1)	61.0 (24.2)	0.32
TNFi	50 (47.6 %)	55 (52.4 %)	0.41
Other bDMARDs	21 (20.0 %)	23 (21.9 %)	0.66
csDMARDs only	33 (31.4 %)	23 (21.9 %)	0.11
Glucocorticoids, <5 mg/day	44 (41.9 %)	62 (59.6 %)
Glucocorticoids, 5–10 mg/day	45 (42.9 %)	34 (32.7 %)	0.008
Glucocorticoids, ≥10 mg/day	16 (15.2 %)	8 (7.7 %)
Non-selective NSAIDs	60 (57.1 %)	62 (59.0 %)	0.77
COX-2 inhibitors	28 (26.7 %)	36 (34.3 %)	0.19
Any NSAID	72 (68.6 %)	78 (74.3 %)	0.33

Case–control pairs with missing C-reactive protein (CRP) values were not included in this analysis. Data represent averages of all reported values within 6 months before the myocardial infarction (MI)/index date. All values are numbers of patients (%) unless otherwise specified. Tumour necrosis factor inhibitors (TNFi), other biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) and conventional synthetic DMARDS (csDMARDs) were counted if the patient received at least one dose of the drug within 6 months before the MI/index date. For nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, data represent use in the 24 months before the MI/index date

SD standard deviation, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, DAS28 disease activity score based on 28 joints, NRS numeric rating scale, FFbH Hannover Functional Status Questionnaire