Descriptive statistics of the study population
| Baseline characteristics | All (n=489) | Men (n=188) | Women (n=301) | P value |
| Mean age (SD) | 65.8 (10.6) | 64.5 (9.9) | 66.6 (11.1) | 0.04 |
| Principal joint affected* | <0.001 | |||
| Knee only | 240 (49) | 66 (35) | 174 (58) | |
| Hip only | 111 (23) | 61 (32) | 50 (17) | |
| Both joints affected (%) | 138 (28) | 61 (32) | 77 (26) | |
| Hand pain* | 61 (13) | 15 (8) | 46 (15) | 0.024 |
| Low back pain* | 191 (39) | 58 (31) | 133 (44) | 0.023 |
| Number of joints affected* | 2.11 (0.99) | 2.00 (0.93) | 2.18 (1) | 0.07 |
| Age of OA symptoms onset * | 53 (12.5) | 52.9 (12.6) | 53.7 (12.5) | 0.77 |
| BMI | 30.6 (6) | 29 (5.6) | 31.6 (6.1) | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference* | 99.8 (13) | 101 (14) | 98.9 (13) | <0.001 |
| Hip circumference* | 109.8 (11.8) | 105.7 (10) | 112.4 (12) | <0.001 |
| Waist/hip ratio* | 0.91 (0.09) | 0.96 (0.08) | 0.88 (0.08) | <0.001 |
| High blood pressure* | 339 (69) | 126 (67) | 213 (71) | 0.32 |
| Smoking* | 134 (27) | 8 7 (46) | 47 (16) | <0.001 |
| Alcohol* | 101 (21) | 82 (44) | 19 (6) | <0.001 |
| Cholesterolemia* | 181 (37) | 67 (36) | 114 (38) | 0.69 |
| Diabetes mellitus (%) * | 139 (28) | 56 (30) | 83 (28) | 0.03 |
| Type of DM treatment* | 0.26 | |||
| DM with metformin | 74 (15) | 34 (18) | 40 (13) | |
| DM no treated or other oral medication | 31 (6) | 13 (7) | 18 (6) | |
| Insulin | 34 (7) | 9 (5) | 25 (8) | |
| Age of diabetes diagnoses* | 64 (11) | 63 (10) | 63.8 (12) | 0.22 |
| Maximum pain score (NRS)* | 7 (2.3) | 7.5 (0.17) | 7.9 (0.13) | 0.04 |
| Analgesics/pain killers* | 363 (74) | 141 (75) | 222 (74) | 0.37 |
Values are mean values with SD in parenthesis or number of cases with percentage (%) for categorical variables.
*P values adjusted by age and BMI. Smoking and alcohol use were categorized as past and current versus never used. Maximum pain score was the highest value given by the patients using a numerical rating scale (NRS). In italics, P values <0.05
BMI, body mass index (kg/m2); DM, diabetes mellitus; OA, osteoarthritis.