Table 1.
Participants’ demographics and clinical characteristics
| Variables* | All n=425 |
LDG (–) n=85 |
LDG (+) n=340 |
P values |
| Age (years) | 57 (14) | 58 (14) | 57 (14) | 0.9107 |
| Female, n (%) | 375 (88.2) | 75 (88.2) | 300 (88.2) | 1 |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 23.4 (5.0) | 23.4 (4.7) | 23.4 (5.0) | 0.916 |
| Disease duration (years) | 10 (13) n=408 |
12 (13) n=83 |
10 (13) n=325 |
0.478 |
| Symptom to diagnosis (years) | 2 (5) n=408 |
1 (4) n=83 |
2 (5) n=325 |
0.336 |
| Tea†, n (%) | 81 (19.1) | 17 (20.0) | 64 (18.8) | 0.805 |
| Coffee†, n (%) | 79 (18.6) | 19 (22.4) | 60 (17.6) | 0.319 |
| Vegetarian‡, n (%) | 23 (5.4) | 5 (5.9) | 18 (5.3) | 0.791 |
| Anti-CCP (≥7 U/mL), n (%) | 287 (69.3) n=414 |
51 (61.4) n=83 |
236 (71.3) n=331 |
0.082 |
| RF (≥15 U/mL), n (%) | 284 (67.5) n=421 |
57 (67.1) n=85 |
227 (67.6) n=336 |
0.930 |
| ESR (mm/hour) | 16 (20) | 14 (18) | 17 (21) | 0.426 |
| CRP (mg/L) | 2.8 (6.7) | 1.9 (4.2) | 3 (7.4) | 0.299 |
| DAS28-ESR | 3.2 (1.6) n=422 |
2.9 (1.7) n=84 |
3.3 (1.6) n=338 |
0.107 |
| iPTH (pg/mL) | 57 (14) | 41.3 (23.3) | 39.9 (28.2) | 0.454 |
| Vitamin D 25(OH) (ng/mL) | 20.9 (9.3) n=332 |
22.0 (8.6) n=71 |
20.8 (10.0) n=261 |
0.679 |
| Comorbidity, n (%) | 238 (56) | 41 (48.2) | 197 (57.9) | 0.107 |
| bDMARD, n (%) | 74 (17.4) | 20 (23.5) | 54 (15.9) | 0.096 |
| Osteoporosis¶, n (%) | 109 (27.3) n=400 |
18 (22.2) n=81 |
91 (28.5) n=319 |
0.2551 |
| Current treatment**, n (%) | 62 (14.6) | 6 (7.1) | 56 (16.5) | 0.028 |
| Fall in previous year, n (%) | 67 (16.4) n=409 |
11 (13.3) n=83 |
56 (17.2) n=326 |
0.388 |
| Fracture, n (%) | 116 (27.3) | 13 (15.3) | 103 (30.3) | 0.006 |
*All data are expressed as median (IQR).
†, regular daily drinker; ‡, more than 3 years; ¶, femoral neck T-score ≤ −2.5; **, receiving antiosteoporosis therapy; n, data available.
Anti-CCP, anti-citrullinated protein antibodies; bDMARDs, biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs; BMD, bone mineral density; BMI, body mass index; CRP, C reactive protein; DAS28-ESR, disease activity score-28 joint-erythrocyte sedimentation rate; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; iPTH, intact parathyroid hormone; LDG, low-dose glucocorticoid; RF, rheumatoid factor.