Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with rheumatic diseases and healthy controls
| Â | Group | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SSc (n = 120) | RA (n = 120) | SLE (n = 120) | SjS (n = 120) | Control (n = 600) | P value* | |
Age, years, mean (SD) | 57.2 (11.2) | 58.3 (12.1) | 43.0 (14.1) | 58.7 (10.9) | 44.9 (15.3) | < 0.001 |
Female, n (%) | 106 (88.3) | 107 (89.2) | 107 (89.2) | 116 (96.7) | 303 (50.5) | < 0.001 |
Disease duration, years, mean (SD) | 11.7 (23.2) | 7.6 (6.5) | 8.3 (5.6) | 6.4 (4.9) | NA | < 0.001 |
Comorbidities, n (%) | ||||||
 Hypertension | 39 (32.5) | 38 (31.7) | 24 (20.0) | 24 (20.0) | 99 (16.5) | < 0.001 |
 Diabetes mellitus | 12 (10.0) | 8 (6.7) | 8 (6.7) | 7 (5.8) | 39 (6.5) | 0.713 |
 Dyslipidemia | 10 (8.3) | 17 (14.2) | 19 (15.8) | 12 (10.0) | 31 (5.2) | < 0.001 |
 Ischemic heart disease | 6 (5.0) | 3 (2.5) | 0 (0) | 4 (3.3) | 5 (0.8) | 0.004 |
 Chronic liver diseases | 3 (2.5) | 4 (3.3) | 7 (5.8) | 3 (2.5) | 10 (1.7) | 0.098 |
 Renal diseases | 0 (0) | 2 (1.7) | 33 (27.5) | 4 (3.3) | 4 (0.7) | < 0.001 |
 Thyroid diseases | 12 (10.0) | 8 (6.7) | 8 (6.7) | 13 (10.8) | 6 (1.0) | < 0.001 |
Education, n (%) |  |  |  |  |  | < 0.001 |
 University | 39 (32.5) | 45 (37.5) | 69 (57.5) | 51 (42.5) | 221 (36.8) |  |
 High school | 30 (25.0) | 45 (37.5) | 37 (30.8) | 43 (35.8) | 278 (46.3) |  |
 Middle school | 17 (14.2) | 13 (10.8) | 7 (5.8) | 14 (11.7) | 49 (8.2) |  |
 Primary school | 21 (17.5) | 12 (10.0) | 4 (3.3) | 11 (9.2) | 52 (8.7) |  |
 Uneducated | 0 (0) | 1 (0.8) | 1 (0.8) | 1 (0.8) | 0 (0) |  |
BMI, kg/m2, mean (SD) | 20.6 (4.5) | 22.8 (3.0) | 22.8 (3.9) | 22.6 (5.1) | 23.4 (13.2) | 0.127 |
Alcohol, n (%) | 16 (13.6) | 24 (20.0) | 32 (26.7) | 18 (15.0) |  | < 0.001 |
Smoking, n (%) | 8 (6.8) | 11 (9.2) | 11 (9.2) | 4 (3.3) | Â | 0.252 |
Laboratory findings, mean (SD) | ||||||
 WBC, mm3 | 7258.6 (202.3) | 8079.2 (11,302.2) | 5598.1 (2399.8) | 5427.7 (1852.2) |  | 0.001 |
 Hemoglobin, g/dL | 12.4 (1.4) | 12.7 (1.2) | 12.4 (1.5) | 12.4 (1.2) |  | 0.229 |
 Platelet, mm3 | 240.3 (66.9) | 266.2 (64.5) | 224.3 (75.2) | 217.9 (71.9) |  | < 0.001 |
 AST, IU/L | 23.3 (8.6) | 22.6 (9.5) | 24.3 (15.2) | 24.6 (8.1) |  | 0.473 |
 ALT, IU/L | 18.0 (12.3) | 20.0 (13.5) | 22.6 (24.4) | 19.2 (10.9) |  | 0.159 |
 BUN, mg/dL | 13.8 (8.2) | 14.4 (5.8) | 13.7 (6.6) | 14.5 (6.3) |  | 0.731 |
 Creatinine, mg/dL | 0.9 (1.1) | 0.9 (1.6) | 0.8 (0.3) | 0.9 (1.2) |  | 0.810 |
 ESR, mm/h | 30.6 (21.2) | 30.6 (20.7) | 27.4 (21.5) | 27.9 (23.6) |  | 0.520 |
 Hs-CRP, mg/L | 0.5 (1.1) | 0.6 (1.0) | 0.3 (0.5) | 0.4 (1.7) |  | 0.378 |