Table 1.
Characteristics of the patients
| All patients* | N | C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Number of patients | 110 | 47 | 63 |
| Females, n (%) | 40 (36.4) | 18 (38.3) | 22 (34.9) |
| Age, years, mean ± SD | 51.7 ± 1.3 | 53.0 ± 1.3 | 49.6 ± 1.3 |
| Schooling | |||
| Primary school, n (%) | 8 (7.3) | 4 (8.5) | 4 (6.3) |
| Middle school, n (%) | 45 (40.9) | 18 (38.3) | 27 (42.9) |
| Secondary school, n (%) | 36 (32.7) | 17 (36.2) | 19 (30.2) |
| University, n (%) | 21 (19.1) | 8 (17) | 13 (20.6) |
| Social status | |||
| Living with parents and family, n (%) | 15 (13.6) | 6 (12.8) | 9 (14.3) |
| Living alone, n (%) | 16 (14.5) | 7 (14.9) | 9 (14.3) |
| Living with partner and family, n (%) | 71 (64.5) | 29 (61.7) | 42 (66.7) |
| Others, n (%) | 8 (7.3) | 5 (10.6) | 3 (4.8) |
| Full- or part-time employed, n (%) | 76 (69.1) | 29 (61.7) | 47 (74.6) |
| Smoking, current, n (%) | 17 (15.5) | 5 (10.6) | 12 (19) |
| HLA-B27 positivity, n (%) | 58 (52.7) | 22 (46.8) | 36 (57.1) |
| Psoriasis, n (%) | 58 (50.7) | 26 (55.3) | 32 (50.8) |
| Uveitis, n (%) | 7 (6.4) | 5 (10.6) | 2 (3.2) |
| Disease duration (years), mean ± SD | 15.3 ± 9.7 | 15.7 ± 10 | 15 ± 9.5 |
| Mechanism of action of current b/tsDMARD | |||
| TNF inhibitors, n (%) | 85 (77.3) | 40 (85.1) | 45 (71.4) |
| IL-12/23 inhibitors, n (%) | 9 (8.2) | 1 (2.1) | 8 (12.7) |
| IL-17 inhibitors, n (%) | 14 (12.7) | 6 (12.8) | 8 (12.7) |
| PDE4 inhibitors, n (%) | 2 (1.8) | 0 (0) | 2 (3.2) |
| Duration of b/tsDMARD treatment overall, years, mean ± SD | 5 ± 4.1 | 5.8 ± 4.5 | 4.5 ± 3.8 |
| Low-dose b/tsDMARD treatment, n (%) | 28 (25.5) | 11 (23.4) | 17 (27) |
| b/tsDMARD naïve patients, n (%) | 81 (73.6) | 37 (78.7) | 44 (69.8) |
| No. of b/tsDMARD treatments, mean ± SD | 1.5 ± 0.9 | 1.3 ± 0.7 | 1.6 ± 1.1 |
| Steroid, n (%) | 9 (8.2) | 1 (2.1) | 8 (12.7) |
| NSAID, n (%) | 76 (69.1) | 30 (63.8) | 46 (73) |
| csDMARD, n (%) | 14 (12.7) | 5 (10.6) | 9 (14.3) |
| Concomitant treatments, n (%) | 62 (56.4) | 27 (57.4) | 35 (55.6) |
| Distance from clinic, km, mean ± SD | 36.1 ± 47.2 | 31.1 ± 34.2 | 39.7 ± 54.9 |
N nutritional group, C control group, b/tsDMARD biological/targeted synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug, NSAID non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, csDMARD conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug
*No significant differences were observed among any of the variables between the two groups at T0