Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants in the intervention and control group
| Variable | All (N = 118) N (%) | Intervention group (N = 59) N (%) |
Control group (N = 59) N (%) |
t/χ2/Z | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age (yr, mean ± SD) | 29.93 ± 8.23 | 30.80 ± 8.82 | 29.07 ± 7.58 | 1.142 | 0.256a |
| Gender | 0.457 | 0.499b | |||
| Male | 93 (78.8) | 45 (76.3) | 48 (81.4) | ||
| Female | 25 (21.2) | 14 (23.7) | 11 (18.6) | ||
| Educational level | 0.218 | 0.897b | |||
| Junior high school or below | 30 (25.4) | 15 (25.4) | 15 (25.4) | ||
| Senior high school | 26 (22.0) | 12 (20.3) | 14 (23.7) | ||
| College or above | 62 (52.5) | 32 (54.2) | 30 (50.8) | ||
| Marital status | 0 | 1.000b | |||
| Single/divorced | 62 (52.5) | 31 (52.5) | 31 (52.5) | ||
| Married | 56 (47.5) | 28 (47.5) | 28 (47.5) | ||
| Monthly per capita income (¥, yuan) | 1.720 | 0.633b | |||
| < 2200 | 34 (28.8) | 16 (27.1) | 18 (30.5) | ||
| 2200~3299 | 33 (28.0) | 15 (25.4) | 18 (30.5) | ||
| 3300~5499 | 23 (19.5) | 11 (18.6) | 12 (20.3) | ||
| ≥ 5500 | 28 (23.7) | 17 (28.8) | 11 (18.6) | ||
| Medical insurance | 0.160 | 0.689b | |||
| Self-pay | 82 (69.5) | 40 (67.8) | 42 (71.2) | ||
| Medical insurance | 36 (30.5) | 19 (32.2) | 17 (28.8) | ||
| Smoking status | 1.502 | 0.472b | |||
| Current smoking | 36 (30.5) | 19 (32.2) | 17 (28.8) | ||
| Never smoking | 70 (59.3) | 36 (61.0) | 34 (57.6) | ||
| Quit smoking | 12 (10.2) | 4 (6.8) | 8 (13.6) | ||
| Medication | 2.185 | 0.139b | |||
| DMARDs | 64 (54.2) | 28 (47.5) | 36 (61.0) | ||
| DMARDs+biologics | 54 (45.8) | 31 (52.5) | 23 (39.0) | ||
| Symptom duration (yr), M [IQR] | 5.00 [6.00] | 6.00 [7.00] | 5.00 [7.00] | − 0.346 | 0.730c |
| Duration since diagnosis (yr), M [IQR] | 3.00 [6.00] | 3.00 [6.00] | 3.00 [6.00] | − 0.577 | 0.564c |
| SF-36 subgroups | |||||
| Physical functioning | 77.88 ± 18.67 | 77.54 ± 20.46 | 78.22 ± 16.86 | − 0.196 | 0.845a |
| Role physical, M [IQR] | 50.00 [100.00] | 50.00 [100.00] | 50.00 [100.00] | − 0.490 | 0.624c |
| Bodily pain | 51.49 ± 20.31 | 53.97 ± 22.39 | 49.02 ± 17.84 | 1.328 | 0.187a |
| General health | 49.08 ± 21.29 | 49.81 ± 21.93 | 48.34 ± 20.79 | 0.375 | 0.708a |
| Vitality | 65.89 ± 18.95 | 67.63 ± 19.06 | 64.15 ± 18.85 | 0.996 | 0.321a |
| Social functioning | 70.46 ± 22.68 | 69.33 ± 23.45 | 71.59 ± 22.03 | − 0.539 | 0.591a |
| Role emotional | 64.41 ± 43.52 | 66.67 ± 43.33 | 62.15 ± 43.97 | 0.562 | 0.575a |
| Mental health | 67.29 ± 15.39 | 67.12 ± 15.97 | 67.46 ± 14.92 | − 0.119 | 0.905a |
| BDI-II, M [IQR] | 5.00 [11.25] | 5.00 [10.00] | 6.00 [12.00] | − 0.543 | 0.587c |
| BAS-G | 3.36 ± 2.31 | 3.31 ± 2.37 | 3.41 ± 2.27 | − 0.234 | 0.815a |
| BASFI, M [IQR] | 0.60 [1.70] | 0.60 [1.90] | 0.60 [1.50] | − 0.586 | 0.558c |
| Overall pain | 3.24 ± 2.35 | 2.97 ± 2.33 | 3.51 ± 2.36 | − 1.267 | 0.208a |
| Back pain | 2.96 ± 2.33 | 2.76 ± 2.30 | 3.16 ± 2.36 | − 0.929 | 0.355a |
| Nocturnal pain | 3.02 ± 2.48 | 3.00 ± 2.33 | 3.05 ± 2.64 | − 0.103 | 0.918a |
| Morning stiffness | 2.45 ± 2.11 | 2.35 ± 1.93 | 2.56 ± 2.29 | − 0.545 | 0.587a |
SD standard deviation, yr year, DMARDs disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, M median, IQR interquartile range, BDI-II Beck Depression Inventory-II, BAS-G Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Patient Global Score, BASFI Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index
aIndependent samples t test
bChi-square test
cMann-Whitney U test