TABLE I.
Demographic features, classification and environmental exposures in female and male SSc patients
| Females (n = 2144) | Males (n = 542) | Significance (p value)
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | Unadjusted | Adjusteda | |
| Race | ||||
| Caucasian (%) | 1929 (90%) | 488 (90%) | NS | NS |
| Age (mean years ± SD) | ||||
| Age at symptom onset | 43.8 ± 14.0 | 46.4 ± 13.7 | <0.001 | 0.0017 |
| Age at SSc diagnosis | 48.7 ± 13.6 | 49.8 ± 13.1 | NS | NS |
| Age at first Pittsburgh visit | 51.8 ± 13.4 | 51.8 ± 12.9 | NS | NS |
| Disease duration (years), median [interquartile range] | ||||
| Onset to first Pittsburgh visit | 3.9 [10.4] | 2.3 [5.0] | <0.0001 | 0.0005 |
| First Pittsburgh visit to last clinical follow-up | 7.7 [11.0] | 5.9 [9.4] | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Residence [within 100 miles of Pittsburgh; referral area], n (%) | 1053 (49%) | 276 (51%) | NS | NS |
| Disease classification, n (%) | ||||
| Diffuse cutaneous | 794 (37%) | 262 (48%) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Limited cutaneous | 1142 (53%) | 232 (43%) | ||
| Overlap syndrome | 208 (10%) | 48 (9%) | 0.0008 | 0.0008 |
| Diffuse | 60 (29%) | 20 (42%) | ||
| Limited | 148 (71%) | 28 (58%) | ||
| Overlap types | ||||
| SSc, SLE | 56 (27%) | 2 (4%) | ||
| SSc, myositis | 119 (57%) | 42 (88%) | ||
| SSc, RA | 16 (8%) | 2 (4%) | ||
| SSc, SLE, myositis | 14 (7%) | 2 (4%) | ||
| SSc, RA, myositis | 3 (1%) | 0 (0%) | ||
| Environmental exposures, n (%) | ||||
| Cigarette smoking (ever) | 903 (42%) | 338 (63%) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
| Occupational | 48 (11%) | 58 (49%) | <0.0001 | <0.0001 |
a
Adjusted for cutaneous subtype (dc, lc).
SSc = systemic sclerosis; dc = diffuse cutaneous; lc = limited cutaneous; SLE = systemic lupus erythematosus; SD = standard deviation; RA = rheumatoid arthritis; NS = non-significant.