Disease activity is associated with LV dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis patients without clinical cardiovascular disease

Table 2 Clinical characteristics of 60 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and regression analysis for factors associated with systolic global longitudinal strain

Clinical parameters	Value	Adjusted univariate coefficient^a (SE)	P-value
Clinical
Duration of RA (years)	9.0 ± 6.8 (2–40)	1.68 (0.76)	0.02
HAQ disability index	0.55 ± 0.6 (0–2.25)	1.1 (0.49)	0.58
Rheumatoid nodule	0	NA	NA
DAS28-CRP	2.9 ± 0.9 (1.48–5.66)	1.44 (0.72)	0.041
DAS28-ESR	3.4 ± 0.9 (1.05–6.25)	0.67 (0.43)	0.7
Joint erosion	25 (42%)	0.8 (0.62)	0.09
Medications
Methotrexate	58 (96%)	0.03 (0.01)	0.79
Cumulative dose of methotrexate (g)	2.9 ± 1.4 (0–5.36)	0.26 (0.02)	0.47
Sulfasalazine	30 (50%)	0.72 (0.13)	0.61
Hydroxychloroquine	18 (23%)	0.4 (0.27)	0.53
Leflunomide	20 (30%)	0.74 (0.81)	0.8
Other DMARDs	31 (52%)	0.1 (0.05)	0.72
Corticosteriod	29 (48%)	0.7 (0.49)	0.93
Cumulative dose of corticosteroid (g)	2.8 ± 4.6(0–23)	0.33 (0.09)	0.82
NSAIDs	13 (22%)	0.92 (0.55)	0.44
Laboratory
CRP^b (mg/dL)	10.1 ± 15 (0.3–65.2)	0.52 (0.38)	0.56
ESR^b(mm/hr)	30 ± 19 (3–81)	0.81 (0.62)	0.7
Positive RF or ACPA	45 (75%)	0.59 (1.0)	1.0

Continuous data are expressed as mean ± SD (min-max), categorical data as n (%)
ACPA Anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies, CRP C-reactive protein, DAS28 Disease Activity Score 28, DMARDs Disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs, ESR Erythrocyte sedimentation rate, HAQ Health assessment questionnaire, RA Rheumatoid arthritis, RF Rheumatoid factor, NA Not available or not applicable
^aAdjusted for age, gender, blood pressure, body mass index, heart rate and left ventricular mass index
^bLog-transformed

ISSN: 2523-3106