Effect of Moxibustion on HIF-1α and VEGF Levels in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Table 1

Baseline characteristics.

	Treatment group (n = 20)	Control group (n = 17)	value
Characteristic
Gender, male/female	1/19	2/15	0.452
Age (y), mean (SD)	46.85 (11.30)	49.41 (10.37)	0.48^†
Disease duration (y), mean (SD)	5.44 (4.05)	6.34 (5.11)	0.55^†
Clinical symptoms
VAS score, mean (SD)	6.60 (1.60)	6.71 (1.57)	0.84^†
Morning stiffness score, mean (SD)	3.60 (1.79)	3.89 (1.11)	0.56^†
Tenderness index, mean (SD)	2.79 (1.43)	2.77 (1.38)	0.77^†
Swelling index, mean (SD)	2.67 (1.84)	2.72 (1.64)	0.42^†
DAS28 score, mean (SD)	6.43 (1.23)	6.87 (0.96)	0.25^†
RA-associated serum markers
ESR (mm/60 min), mean (SD)	54.75 (30.94)	57.76 (31.77)	0.87^Δ
CRP (mg/L), mean (SD)	15.04 (30.18)	22.14 (30.23)	0.13^Δ
RF (IU/ml), mean (SD)	167.56 (192.89)	185.81 (213.04)	0.58^Δ

value by X² test. ^†P value by independent samples t-test. ^ΔP value by Mann‐Whitney U test.