Intracytoplasmic Expression of IL-6 and IL-17A in Circulating CD4+ T Cells Are Strongly Associated with and Predict Disease Activity in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case-Control Study in Ghana
Table 1
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the study population.
Variables
RA cases ()
Control ()
value
Age (years)†
0.083
Sex
0.062
Male
8 (17.0)
11 (36.7)
Female
39 (83.0)
19 (63.3)
Marital status
0.641
Single
18 (37.5)
13 (43.3)
Married
30 (62.5)
17 (56.7)
Educational status
0.021
No education
2 (4.2)
3 (10.0)
Primary
13 (27.1)
9 (30.0)
Secondary
25 (52.1)
6 (20.0)
Tertiary
8 (16.7)
12 (40.0)
Employment status
0.043
Unemployed
10 (20.8)
1 (3.3)
Employed
38 (79.2)
29 (96.7)
BMI (kg/m2)†
0.093†
SBP (mmHg)†
0.846†
DBP (mmHg)†
0.893†
ESR (mm/hr)†
35.50 (29.25-55.25)
na
na
DAS score†
na
na
Low
33 (68.7)
na
na
Moderate
12 (25.0)
na
na
High
3 (6.3)
na
na
† and compared with independent -test where applicable; BMI: body mass index; SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
