Table 2.
Comparison of clinical characteristics between RA patients with low muscle mass and those without.
| Without Low Muscle Mass n = 266 |
With Low Muscle Mass * n = 54 |
p-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age, year | 60.1 ± 9.7 | 62.4 ± 10.3 | 0.061 |
| Male, n (%) | 9 (3.4) | 11 (20.4) | <0.001 |
| Height, cm | 156.7 ± 6.4 | 157.0 ± 6.4 | 0.561 |
| Weight, kg | 59.6 ± 9.3 | 48.7 ± 8.6 | <0.001 |
| BMI, kg/m2 | 24.3 ± 3.3 | 19.7 ± 2.8 | <0.001 |
| Duration of RA, month | 103.9 ± 67.8 | 107.8 ± 66.9 | 0.676 |
| Erosion, n (%) | 57 (21.4) | 20 (37.0) | 0.015 |
| ESR mm/hr | 15.5 ± 15.1 | 16.9 ± 15.1 | 0.559 |
| CRP mg/dL | 0.7 ± 1.2 | 0.7 ± 1.2 | 0.837 |
| Visual analogue score | 27.2 ± 17.8 | 26.3 ± 14.6 | 0.904 |
| Tender joint count | 4.0 ± 4.4 | 3.8 ± 3.3 | 0.671 |
| Swollen joint count | 1.1 ± 2.5 | 1.2 ± 1.7 | 0.058 |
| DAS28 | 3.0 ± 1.2 | 3.1 ± 1.0 | 0.669 |
| Current dose of GC, mg | 1.3 ± 1.3 | 1.8 ± 1.3 | 0.011 |
| Cumulative dose of GC, g | 3.3 ± 3.6 | 5.3 ± 6.0 | 0.002 |
| MTX, n (%) | 158 (59.4) | 34 (63.0) | 0.626 |
| TNF inhibitor, n (%) | 15 (5.6) | 8 (14.8) | 0.017 |
| Synthetic DMARDs, n (%) | 82 (30.8) | 23 (42.6%) | 0.094 |
| Osteoporosis, n (%) | 107 (40.2) | 34 (63.0) | 0.002 |
| Mean strength of grip | 19.6 ± 5.6 | 18.1 ± 6.2 | 0.038 |
| Walk speed, m/s | 0.84 ± 0.16 | 0.82 ± 0.17 | 0.418 |
RA, rheumatoid arthritis; BMI, body mass index; ESR, erythrocyte sedimentation rate; CRP, C-reactive protein; DAS28, Disease Activity Score 28; GC, glucocorticoids; MTX, methotrexate; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; DMARDs, disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs. Values are mean ± standard deviation or n (%). * Low muscle mass: aLM <5.4 kg/m2 female, <7.0 kg/m2 male by the European Working Group for Sarcopenia (EWGS).