Table 1.
Baseline patients’ characteristicsa
| Characteristic | Value |
|---|---|
| Sex, no. males/total no. (%) | 368/406 (90.6) |
| Age, mean ± SD years | 64 ± 11.5 |
| Current smokers, no./total no. (%) | 68/405 (16.8) |
| BMI, mean ± SD | 28.0 ± 3.9 |
| Comorbidities, median (IQR) | 3 (2–4) |
| Hypertension, no. (%) | 287 (70.7) |
| Renal failure, no. (%) | 47 (11.6) |
| Osteoarthritis, no. (%) | 226 (55.7) |
| Cardiovascular disorders, no. (%) | 105 (25.9) |
| Diabetes mellitus, no. (%) | 58 (14.3) |
| Liver disorders, no. (%) | 32 (7.9) |
| Neoplasms, no. (%) | 25 (6.2) |
| Fulfills preliminary ACR criteria, no./total no. (%) | 373/405 (91.9) |
| Disease duration (years), median (IQR) | 3.8 (1.6–10.2) |
| Joint involvement, no. (%) | |
| Monoarticular (1 joint) | 87 (21.4) |
| Oligoarticular (2–4 joints) | 239 (58.9) |
| Polyarticular (>4 joints) | 77 (19) |
| VAS pain (0–10), median (IQR) | 2 (0–5) |
| VAS patient global (0–10), median (IQR) | 1 (0–5) |
| Swollen joints (0–66), median (IQR) | 0 (0–1) |
| Tender joints (0–68), median (IQR) | 1 (0–3) |
| Presence of tophi, no. (%) | 79 (19.5) |
| Tophi dimension, median (IQR) | 1.5 (0.5–6.5) |
| Number of flares (3 months), median (IQR) | 0 (0–0) |
| Flare (previous month), no. (%) | 120 (29.6) |
| Serum urate level | |
| Mean ± SD mg/dlb | 6.3 ± 1.8 |
| Mean ± SD mmoles/liter | 0.37 ± 0.11 |
| Previous corticosteroids | 117 (28.8) |
| Current NSAIDs or colchicine | 172 (42.4) |
| Current allopurinol, no. (%) | 279 (68.7) |
| Current febuxostat, no. (%) | 55 (13.6) |
a
BMI = body mass index; IQR = interquartile range; ACR = American College of Rheumatology; VAS = visual analog scale; NSAIDs = nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.
b
Cutoff is 7 mg/dl.