Table IV.

Clinical characteristics of patients with asSpA according to the gender with mean values of laboratory findings

	Men	Women p – t-Student
Number of patients	51	14
Age, mean (SD) years	44 (SD 12)	47 (SD 11) 0.82
Group without relapse	11/51 (21%)	3/14 (21%)
Qualification parameters:
BASDAI
group with relapse	6.0	6.5 0.22
group without relapse	6.4	7.8
VAS back pain
group with relapse	72 mm	86 mm 0.002
group without relapse	73 mm	82 mm
ESR (mm/h)
group with relapse	29	41 0.4
group without relapse	18	17
CRP (mg/l)
group with relapse	6	6.5 0.76
group without relapse	12.8	2.6
Hb (g/dl)
group with relapse	13.7	11.7 0.007
group without relapse	13.4	14.3
WBC count × 109/l
group with relapse	7.9	6.8 0.08
group without relapse	7.2	5.6
PLT count × 109/l
group with relapse	324	333 0.94
group without relapse	302	237

ESR – erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP – C-reactive protein; WBC – white blood cells count; PLT – platelets; Hb – haemoglobin level; BASDAI – Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index; VAS low back pain – visual analogue scale for low back pain; Group 1 – group of patients with relapse after LDA; Group 2 – group of patients with remission without relapse after LDA ≥ 6 months; Group 3 – group with no remission; SD – standard deviation