Table 2.

Associations of antinuclear antibodies (ANA) with continuous variables. Differences for which 95% CI do not overlap zero, and are therefore significant (p < 0.05), are shown in bold type. For t tests and multiple regression analysis, the difference between the mean for patients with each ANA and the mean for all patients without that ANA is shown. For Mann-Whitney U tests, the difference between median values for patients with each ANA and for all patients without that ANA is given.

CriteriaDifference Between ACA (n = 91) and not ACA (95% CI)Difference Between Anti-topo I (n = 16) and Not Anti-topo I (95% CI)Difference Between Anti-RNP (n = 15) and not Anti-RNP (95% CI)Difference Between Anti-Th/To (n = 14) and Not Anti-Th/To (95% CI)
Age at diagnosis of lcSSc, yrs4.6 (1.0 to 8.2)−2.5 (−8.9 to 3.9)−8.6 (−15.1 to −2.0)−4.6 (−11.0 to 1.8)
Skin score*−2 (−3 to 0)2 (0 to 5)0 (−2 to 2)0 (−3 to 1)
Expected FVC, %11.6 (6.7 to 16.4)−9.1 (−23 to 5.0)−9.9 (−19.2 to −0.6)1.1 (−6.4 to 14.6)
Expected DLCO, %−0.18 (−5.1 to 4.7)−6.4 (−18 to 5.6)2.4 (−6.8 to 11.7)−2.1 (−11.4 to 7.2)
Expected KCO*, %−6 (−12 to 0)6 (−5 to 15)8 (−3 to 19)−2 (−14 to 11)
Creatinine clearance**−12.4 (−21.5 to −3.3)12.7 (−3.0 to 28.3)−0.9 (−17.5 to 15.7)0.8 (−16.0 to 17.6)
  • * Difference in medians.

  • ** Adjusted for age. ACA: anticentromere antibodies; lcSSc: limited cutaneous systemic sclerosis; FVC: forced vital capacity; DLCO: diffusing lung capacity for carbon monoxide; KCO: carbon monoxide transfer coefficient corrected for lung volumes.