Baseline comparison of cases of incident cardiovascular (CV) events and controls sampled from a cohort of patients with early rheumatoid arthritis.
| Variable | Cases, n = 279 | Controls, n = 3348 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | % | n | % | |
| Matching variables | ||||
| Patient age, yrs, mean ± SD | 64 ± 12 | 64 ± 12 | ||
| Mean followup time, days, mean ± SD | 238 ± 196 | 238 ± 196 | ||
| Female | 182 | 65.2 | 2184 | 65.2 |
| CV risk factors | ||||
| Diabetes mellitus | 82 | 29.4 | 564 | 16.8 |
| Hyperlipidemia | 98 | 35.1 | 1162 | 34.7 |
| Hypertension | 165 | 59.1 | 1571 | 46.9 |
| Other comorbid conditions | ||||
| COPD | 61 | 21.9 | 484 | 14.5 |
| Any malignancy | 22 | 7.9 | 287 | 8.6 |
| Concurrent drug use† | ||||
| Pain relievers | ||||
| COXIB | 21 | 7.5 | 205 | 6.1 |
| NSAID | 29 | 10.4 | 320 | 9.6 |
| Steroids | 135 | 48.4 | 1569 | 46.9 |
| CV medications | ||||
| ACE inhibitors | 53 | 19 | 573 | 17.1 |
| β blockers | 68 | 24.4 | 541 | 16.2 |
| Lipid-lowering agents | 85 | 30.5 | 858 | 25.6 |
| Calcium channel blockers | 61 | 21.9 | 494 | 14.8 |
| Other CV drugs‡ | 74 | 26.5 | 560 | 16.7 |
↵† Concurrent drug use was defined as any use in the period of 90 days prior to the event date;
↵‡ Other CV drugs include cardiac glycosides, antiarrhythmic agents, hypotensive agents, vasodilating agents, and phosphodiesterase inhibitor. COXIB: cyclooxygenase inhibitors; NSAID: nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs; ACE: angiotensin-converting enzyme; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.