Table 3 Unadjusted mean leptin by sex for hand osteoarthritis status and potential confounders in NHANES III

Overall

510

7.66 (7.11, 8.21)

546

19.24 (17.19, 21.29)

Hand OA status

   Symptomatic hand OA

36

7.38 (5.31, 9.46)

54

21.55 (17.08, 26.02)

   Asymptomatic hand OA

159

6.69 (5.19, 8.18)

217

17.09 (15.00, 19.18)

   No hand OA

315

8.22 (7.47, 8.97)

275

20.77 (18.01, 23.53)

Age

   60 to 69 years

255

7.53 (6.83, 8.22)

233

21.43 (18.73, 24.13)

   70 to 79 years

147

7.88 (6.47, 9.29)

197

17.60 (14.47, 20.73)

   80+ years

108

7.66 (6.24, 9.07)

116

16.00 (12.73, 19.28)

Race/ethnicity

   Non-Hispanic white

273

7.62 (7.06, 8.17)

326

18.73 (16.52, 20.95)

   Non-Hispanic black

89

7.30 (5.61, 8.99)

101

24.39 (21.52, 27.25)

   Hispanic

139

8.74 (6.24, 11.25)

115

19.34 (13.94, 24.74)

   Other

9

7.42 (6.31, 8.53)

4

19.83 (-2.88, 42.54)

BMI status

   Normal (BMI < 25 kg/m²)

183

5.00 (4.30, 5.70)

199

11.54 (10.30, 12.77)

   Overweight (25 ≤ BMI < 30 kg/m²)

217

7.73 (6.75, 8.70)

179

19.65 (17.68, 21.63)

   Obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m²)

90

13.03 (11.03, 15.03)

118

34.55 (31.22, 37.88)

Radiographic knee OA

   Yes

132

8.99 (7.53, 10.45)

211

23.31 (19.55, 27.08)

   No

357

7.09 (6.59, 7.60)

315

16.93 (14.99, 18.87)

Diabetes

   Yes

64

8.69 (7.10, 10.27)

72

20.62 (16.47, 24.76)

   No

445

7.55 (7.02, 8.08)

473

19.1 (17.13, 21.08)

Total cholesterol

   Desirable (< 200)

201

7.24 (6.33, 8.14)

136

14.87 (12.01, 17.73)

   Borderline high (200 to 239)

193

7.36 (6.66, 8.07)

197

18.99 (16.40, 21.58)

   High (≥ 240)

113

8.18 (6.92, 9.44)

204

22.20 (18.99, 25.41)