Table 2. Sociodemographic and clinical characteristic of the participants according to fitness level.
| Fexibility | Strength | CRF | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back Scratch Test | Handgrip | 30-sec chair stand | 6-min walk test | |||||||||
| Low | High | Low | High | Low | High | Low | High | |||||
| (n = 35) | (n = 35) | (n = 35) | (n = 35) | (n = 35) | (n = 35) | (n = 27) | (n = 22) | |||||
| mean | mean | p | mean | mean | p | mean | mean | p | mean | mean | p | |
| Age (years) | 46.0 (14.2) | 39.0 (12.9) | 0.037 | 44.1 (15.8) | 40.9 (11.7) | 0.353 | 50.1 (13.1) | 34.9 (10.1) | <0.001 | 46.8 (14.3) | 34.7 (9.9) | 0.002 |
| Weight (kg) | 67.3 (14.0) | 63.6 (7.1) | 0.173 | 64.1 (9.7) | 66.8 (12.5) | 0.311 | 67.4 (11.5) | 63.5 (10.7) | 0.153 | 69.6 (15.4) | 62.4 (6.7) | 0.049 |
| Body mass index (kg/m2) | 26.9 (5.5) | 24.1 (3.1) | 0.01 | 25.7 (4.2) | 25.4 (5.1) | 0.775 | 26.4 (4.6) | 24.6 (4.5) | 0.105 | 28.4 (5.8) | 23.2 (1.6) | <0.001 |
| Disease duration (years) | 15.0 (10.1) | 11.9 (9.9) | 0.192 | 15.9 (10.7) | 11.0 (8.7) | 0.042 | 16.5 (11.0) | 10.4 (8.0) | 0.009 | 14.7 (10.0) | 8.0 (6.8) | 0.01 |
| SLEDAI (0–105) | 0.69 (1.5) | 0.8 (1.6) | 0.763 | 0.7 (1.5) | 0.7 (1.6) | 1.000 | 1.0 (1.8) | 0.5 (1.2) | 0.128 | 1.1 (1.9) | 1.0 (1.6) | 0.831 |
| Systemic Damage Index for SLE (0–46) |
0.49 (1.0) | 0.5 (1.0) | 0.902 | 0.7 (1.2) | 0.2 (0.6) | 0.017 | 0.8 (1.2) | 0.2 (0.4) | 0.008 | 0.7 (1.1) | 0.2 (0.4) | 0.057 |
| Current corticoicorteroids intake (yes, %) |
22 (62.9) | 23 (65.7) | 1.000 | 24 (68.6) | 21 (60.0) | 0.618 | 22 (62.9) | 23 (65.7) | 1.000 | 17 (63.0) | 16 (72.7) | 0.549 |
| Daily corticorteroids dose (mg/day) | 4.1 (5.6) | 3.6 (4.1) | 0.649 | 4.6 (6.0) | 3.0 (3.3) | 0.169 | 3.9 (5.6) | 3.8 (4.1) | 0.976 | 4.4 (6.1) | 3.8 (3.1) | 0.682 |
| Cumulative corticorteroids exposure (last 3 years) mg |
2368.2 (2477.4) | 3299.9 (2879.3) | 0.154 | 3407.6 (2956.3) | 2230.0 (2310.5) | 0.07 | 2490.0 (2651.7) | 3174.5 (2752.8) | 0.297 | 2445.1 (2593.7) | 3185.4 (2784.6) | 0.341 |
| Hydroxychloroquine intake | 31 (88.6) | 31 (88.6) | 1.000 | 30 (85.7) | 32 (91.4) | 0.71 | 30 (85.7) | 32 (91.4) | 0.71 | 24 (88.9) | 21 (95.5) | 0.617 |
| (yes, %) | ||||||||||||
| Daily hydroxychloroquine dose (mg/day) | 197.2 (122.0) | 195.9 (113.9) | 0.965 | 185.3 (113.3) | 207.8 (121.5) | 0.427 | 186.1 (120.1) | 206.9 (114.9) | 0.462 | 188.9 (111.1) | 241.5 (119.5) | 0.117 |
| Immunosuppressants | 15 (42.9) | 18 (51.4) | 0.632 | 19 (54.3) | 14 (40.0) | 0.338 | 13 (37.1) | 20 (57.1) | 0.15 | 10 (37.0) | 11 (50.0) | 0.398 |
| (current intake) (yes, %) | ||||||||||||
| Immunosuppressants | 14 (40.0) | 16 (45.7) | 0.809 | 18 (51.4) | 12 (34.3) | 0.227 | 11 (31.4) | 19 (54.3) | 0.09 | 9 (33.3) | 11 (50.0) | 0.26 |
| (previous intake) (yes, %) | ||||||||||||
| Organ involvement (yes, %) | ||||||||||||
| Joint involvement | 26 (74.3) | 24 (68.6) | 0.792 | 25 (71.4) | 25 (71.4) | 1.000 | 28 (80.0) | 22 (62.9) | 0.185 | 17 (63.0) | 14 (63.6) | 1.000 |
| Neurological involvement | 2 (5.7) | 4 (11.4) | 0.428 | 3 (8.6) | 3 (8.6) | 1.000 | 5 (14.3) | 1 (2.9) | 0.198 | 2 (7.4) | 2 (9.1) | 1.000 |
| BDI-II total score (0–63) | 10.60 (8.0) | 12.9 (9.8) | 0.284 | 11.0 (9.2) | 12.5 (8.8) | 0.484 | 11.4 (8.2) | 12.1 (9.7) | 0.742 | 13.9 (8.9) | 12.1 (9.8) | 0.515 |
| MFI general fatigue (0–20) | 13.57 (4.9) | 13.3 (3.4) | 0.757 | 13.3 (4.7) | 13.5 (3.7) | 0.888 | 13.7 (4.4) | 13.1 (4.1) | 0.518 | 14.3 (4.3) | 13.3 (4.3) | 0.453 |
Values are mean (SD) unless otherwise is indicated
An independent t test and χ2 test were used to compare variables between groups
Low and high fitness level according to the median value for flexibility (1.35 cm in the back scratch test), upper body strength (28.28 kg/cm2 in the handgrip test), lower body strength (15 repetitions in the 30-sec chair stand test) and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF; 575 m in the 6-min walk test).