Table 1.
Characteristics of GCA and Comparison Cohorts at Baseline (GCA Onset)
| Variable | GCA N= 909 |
Non-GCA a N=9288 |
P Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, mean (SD) years | 76.4 (9.4) | 76.1 (9.4) | NS |
| Female | 667 (73.4) | 6,820 (73.4) | NS |
| Alcoholism | 2 (0.2) | 63 (0.7) | NS |
| Hypertension | 434 (47.7) | 3,786 (40.8) | <0.001 |
| Sepsis | 4 (0.4) | 31 (0.3) | NS |
| Varicose veins | 8 (0.9) | 96 (1.0) | NS |
| Inflammatory bowel disease | 3 (0.3) | 29 (0.3) | NS |
| Trauma | 3 (0.3) | 49 (0.5) | NS |
| Fractures | 26 (2.9) | 294 (3.2) | NS |
| Surgery | 5 (0.6) | 55 (0.6) | NS |
| Glucocorticoids | 656 (72.2) | 618 (6.7) | <0.001 |
| HRT | 59 (6.5) | 470 (5.1) | NS |
| Contraceptives | 1 (0.1) | 8 (0.1) | NS |
| Cox-2 inhibitors | 75 (8.3) | 345 (3.7) | <0.001 |
| Charlson’s comorbidity index, mean (SD) | 1.1 (1.5) | 0.8 (1.5) | <0.001 |
| Number of hospitalizations, mean (SD) | 0.7 (1.1) | 0.5 (1.0) | <0.001 |
| Number of outpatient visits, mean (SD) | 101.9 (89.2) | 50.3 (57.8) | < 0.001 |
Values are N (percentages) unless otherwise noted. P values were estimated by t-test (continuous) or chi-square test (categorical).
GCA, Giant cell arteritis; HRT, Hormone Replacement Therapy (in females); NS, Non-significant; SD, standard deviation
a
age-, sex-, and entry-time-matched