Table 3 Comparison of the demographic and disease characteristics between RA patients with/without HF within the normal range according to patient-reported outcomes (MHQ and DASH)

Female gender, N° (%)

65 (85.5)

59 (93.7)

99 (86.8)

25 (100)

0.17/0.07

Age at hand function evaluation^a

42.7 ± 12.6

45.7 ± 13.6

42.5 ± 13.4

51.2 ± 8.8

0.18/0.002

Years of scholarship^a

11.4 ± 3.6

10.5 ± 4

11.2 ± 3.7

10.1 ± 4.4

0.15/0.19

Disease duration, years^b

7.5 (3–10)

6 (2–9)

7 (3–10)

4 (0–8)

0.17/0.007

N° (%) of patients with RF

63 (82.9)

57 (90.5)

97 (85.1)

23 (92)

0.22/0.53

N° (%) of patients with ACCP

69 (90.8)

56 (90.3)

102 (90.3)

23 (92)

1/1

DAS28^b

1.5 (1–2.1)

3 (1.8–4.5)

1.7 (1.1–2.4)

4.4 (3–6)

0.000/0.00

N° (%) of patients with erosions

29 (38.2)

26 (41.3)

46 (40.4)

9 (36)

0.73/0.82

N° of comorbidities/patient^b

2 (1–3)

1 (1–3)

2 (1–3)

2 (1–4)

0.55/0.56

N° (%) of patients with corticosteroids

41 (53.9)

39 (61.9)

64 (56.1)

16 (64)

0.39/0.51

N° of DMARDs/patient^b

1 (1–2)

2 (2–2)

2 (1–2)

2 (2–2)

0.000/0.02