Table 1.
Demographic data and comorbidity comparison of the study subjects
| Non-RA cohort | RA cohort | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | N=32 600 (%) | N=8045(%) | p Value |
| Age (years) | 0.85 | ||
| ≤40 | 5378 (16.5) | 1331 (16.5) | |
| 41–60 | 15 569 (47.8) | 3814 (47.4) | |
| 60+ | 11 653 (35.7) | 2900 (36.0) | |
| Mean±SD | 55.00±14.63 | 55.01±14.65 | 0.94 |
| Gender | 0.95 | ||
| Female | 22 461 (68.9) | 5540 (68.9) | |
| Male | 10 139 (31.1) | 2505 (31.1) | |
| Monthly income | <0.001 | ||
| Low | 15 218 (46.7) | 3513 (43.7) | |
| Median | 15 985 (49.0) | 4213 (52.4) | |
| High | 1397 (4.3) | 319 (4.0) | |
| Level of urbanisation | <0.001 | ||
| Urban | 18 839 (57.8) | 4485 (55.7) | |
| Suburban | 5311 (16.3) | 1258 (15.6) | |
| Rural | 8450 (25.9) | 2302 (28.6) | |
| Comorbidity | |||
| Hypertension | 5965 (21.2) | 2216 (27.6) | <0.001 |
| Diabetes | 2717 (9.6) | 1046 (13.0) | <0.001 |
| Heart disease | 3054 (10.8) | 1273 (15.8) | <0.001 |
| Chronic kidney disease | 264 (0.9) | 123 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| Cancer | 959 (3.4) | 268 (3.3) | 0.75 |
| Alcohol dependence syndrome | 30 (0.1) | 18 (0.2) | 0.002 |
| Tobacco use | 36 (0.1) | 10 (0.1) | 0.74 |
| Visits seeking medical care | |||
| Mean±SD (median, 25th–75th centile) | 234.55±194.08 (185, 97–319) | 159.90±155.87 (114, 52–219) | <0.001 |
RA, rheumatoid arthritis.