Table 1 Clinical characteristics of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and control subjects.
Characteristic | Patients with early rheumatoid arthritis (n = 89) | Patients with long-standing rheumatoid arthritis (n = 66) | Control subjects (n = 85) | P valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Demographic variables | ||||
Age in years | 51 (43–59) | 57 (48–65) | 52 (44–58) | 0.002 |
Female gender, n (percentage) | 57 (64%) | 49 (74%) | 55 (65%) | 0.35 |
Caucasian, n (percentage) | 81 (91%) | 57 (86%) | 72 (84%) | 0.51 |
Components of the Framingham risk scoreb | ||||
Total cholesterol (mg/dl) | 182 (156–210) | 188 (149–211) | 195 (171–216) | 0.22 |
Smoking, n (percentage) | 19 (21.4%) | 20 (30.3%) | 8 (9.4%) | 0.004 |
High-density lipoprotein (mg/dl) | 41 (37–53) | 46 (40–56) | 45 (39–54) | 0.16 |
Systolic blood pressure (mm Hg) | 128 (116–139) | 138 (124–150) | 128 (115–136) | 0.001 |
Framingham risk score (units) | 11 (8–14) | 14 (11–18) | 12 (7–14) | <0.001 |
Ten-year risk of a cardiovascular event | 2% (1%–6%) | 6% (2%–11%) | 2% (1%–8%) | 0.006 |
Other cardiovascular risk factors | ||||
Family history of coronary heart disease, n (percentage) | 23 (26%) | 19 (29%) | 26 (31%) | 0.78 |
Body mass index (kg/m2) | 28 (25–34) | 28 (24–31) | 27 (25–32) | 0.51 |
Low-density lipoprotein (mg/dl) | 111 (93–135) | 114 (83–135) | 122 (104–145) | 0.07 |
Lp(a) lipoprotein (mg/dl) | 8.1 (2.0–24.6) | 8.7 (4.0–23.2) | 9.9 (4.0–32.3) | 0.24 |
Triglycerides (mg/dl) | 108 (78–141) | 111 (81–172) | 103 (74–135) | 0.43 |
Homocysteine (μmol/l) | 9.5 (8.1–11.4) | 10.7 (8.1–12.3) | 8.2 (7.1–9.6) | <0.001 |