Progression of coronary artery atherosclerosis in rheumatoid arthritis: comparison with participants from the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis

Table 1 Baseline characteristics according to RA status

Characteristic	RA	Controls	P
Characteristic	Number = 1 55	Number = 835	P
Demographics
Age, years	59.2 ± 8.3	62.8 ± 10.0	<0.001
Female; n (%)	97 (63%)	437 (52%)	0.019
Caucasian race; n (%)	136 (88%)	425 (51%)	<0.001
Education; n (%)	122 (79%)	580 (70%)	0.035
Some college or higher
Cardiovascular Risk Factors
Diabetes; number (%)	11 (7%)	137 (16%)	0.003
Hypertension (%)	87 (56%)	465 (56%)	0.92
Systolic BP, mm Hg	126 ± 17	126 ± 20	0.72
Diastolic BP, mm Hg	75 ± 9	71 ± 10	<0.001
Dyslipidemia
Total cholesterol, mg/dL	198 ± 40	192 ± 35	0.10
LDL cholesterol, mg/dL	117 ± 32	118 ± 31	0.74
HDL cholesterol, mg/dL	56 ± 20	51 ± 14	<0.001
Triglycerides, mg/dL	126 ± 98	117 ± 72	0.20
Cigarette smoking
Current; number(%)	15 (10%)	103 (12%)	0.32
Serum inflammatory markers
CRP, mg/L; median (IQR)	2.3 (1.1, 6.7)	2.2 (1.0, 4.6)	0.18
IL-6, pg/mL; median (IQR)	3.6 (1.6, 7.5)	1.3 (0.8, 1.91)	<0.001
Fibrinogen, mg/dL; median (IQR)	335 (278, 416)	339 (294, 387)	0.79
Prevalence of CAC	82 (52.9%)	454 (54.3%)	0.79
Unadjusted CAC score (Agatston Units)	3.1 (0, 135.1)	6.4 (0, 119.6)	0.68

BP, blood pressure; CAC, coronary artery calcium; CRP, C-reactive protein; HDL, high density lipoprotein; IQR, interquartile range; LDL, low density lipoprotein; RA, rheumatoid arthritis.