Table 1.

Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with AS included in the study (n = 70) according to randomized group. Values are mean (SD) unless otherwise specified.

Variables	Intervention Group, n = 35	Control Group, n = 35	p
Age, yrs	42.9 (9.9)	40.2 (9.3)	0.245^*
Men:women, n	26:9	23:12	0.434^#
Non-white:white, n	26:9	24:11	0.597^#
Education level, yrs	8.6 (3.6)	8.8 (3.5)	0.840^*
BMI	26.69 (4.58)	25.86 (4.00)	0.423^*
Disease duration, yrs	16.0 (8.9)	13.4 (7.8)	0.208^*
Time of diagnosis, yrs	7.4 (6.3)	7.5 (6.5)	0.934^§
Smoking, n (%)	4 (11.4)	4 (11.4)	1.000^†
SH, n (%)	8 (22.9)	13 (37.1)	0.192^#
DM, n (%)	2 (5.7)	2 (5.7)	1.000^†
Dyslipidemia, n (%)	5 (14.3)	4 (11.4)	1.000^†
Use of statins	3 (8.6)	2 (5.7)	0.500^†
Medications, n (%)
No medication	5 (14.3)	5 (14.3)	1.000^#
NSAID continuous	15 (42.9)	11 (31.4)	0.322^#
Corticosteroid	0 (0)	4 (11.4)	0.114^†
Methotrexate	7 (20)	8 (22.9)	0.771^#
Sulfasalazine	4 (11.4)	6 (17.1)	0.734^†
Anti-TNF therapy	14 (40)	17 (48.5)	0.868^#
Infliximab	4 (11.4)	6 (17.1)
Adalimumab	5 (14.3)	6 (17.1)
Etanercept	5 (14.3)	5 (14.3)

↵* Student t test.
↵# Chi-square test.
↵§ Mann-Whitney U test.
↵† Fisher’s exact test.
AS: ankylosing spondylitis; BMI: body mass index; SH: systemic hypertension; DM: diabetes mellitus; NSAID: nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug; anti-TNF: anti-tumor necrosis factor.