IJCS | Volume 32, Nº1, January/ February 2019

12 Table 1 - Sociodemographic and physical data of the individuals with and without spondyloarthritis assessed in this study Variables Spondyloarthritis p value No Yes Age 40.60 ± 1.79 45.57 ± 1.78 0.054 Sex Female 28.0 (14) 23.8 (10) 0.648 Male 72.0 (36) 76.2 (32) Skin color White 73.5 (36) 76.2 (32) 0.766 Non-white 26.5 (13) 23.8 (10) No information 1 0 Educational level Secondary education 71.4 (35) 83.3 (35) 0.179 Higher education 28.6 (14) 16.7 (7) No information 1 0 Weight 79.99 ± 2.68 74.80 ± 2.70 0.179 Height 167.60 ± 1.54 164.74 ± 1.34 0.172 SBP 125.08 ± 1.77 129.05 ± 1.90 0.130 DBP 81.56 ± 1.12 84.86 ± 1.46 0.072 Abdominal circumference 92.28 ± 1.86 93.07 ± 2.22 0.783 SBP: systolic blood pressure; DBP: diastolic blood pressure. The results are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean or relative frequency (absolute frequency). P value in the Student t test (quantitative variables) or the chi-square test (qualitative variables). Silva Junior et al. Cardiovascular disease and ankylosing spondylitis Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2019;32(1)10-18 Original Article Disease activity was assessed by using the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Index (BASDAI) and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS). The ASDAS-CRP and ASDAS-ESR indices16 were calculatedafterbloodcollection, using the information obtainedwhen assessing the BathAnkylosing Spondylitis Metrology Index (BASMI) and the Bath Ankylosing Spondylitis Functional Index (BASFI). In addition, the disease activity indices were correlated with the serum levels of IL-6, hs-CRP and uric acid, and compared to the occurrence of clinically manifest or subclinical CVD. The AS group individuals were also assessed regarding the occurrence of CVD up to the age of 40 years and after 40 years. Statistical analysis 17 The results referring to the quantitative variables are presentedasmean± standarddeviation,while the results of the categorical variables are presented as relative frequency followed by absolute frequency. The quantitative variables were compared between individuals with and without spondyloarthritis by use of parametric Student t test for independent samples (nonpaired) because most of the samples were normally distributed (Shapiro-Wilk test; p > 0.05). Student t test was used to compare quantitative variables between age groups. The association between the qualitative variables and the presence or absence of spondyloarthritis was assessed by use of chi-square test, which was also used to assess the association between the qualitative variables and the patients’ age groups. The linear correlation between some quantitative variableswas assessed by use of Pearson’s linear correlation test. The results of the other variableswere presented as descriptive statistics or tables andgraphs. The SPSS statistical program, version 22.0, was used for statistical analysis, considering a 5% significance level. Results General characteristics There was no significant difference between individuals with or without AS regarding age, sex, skin color, educational level, weight, height, blood pressure and body mass index (Table 1). Risk factors for cardiovascular disease Table 2 shows the results regarding the cardiovascular risk factors in the two groups. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding the variables family history, smoking habit, alcoholism, abdominal circumference, systemic arterial hypertension, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, glycated hemoglobin, hs-CRP, microalbuminuria, metabolic syndrome, and IL-6. The LDL-cholesterol levels in the AS group, however, were higher than those in the CG (p = 0.012). The uric acid levels in the AS group were lower than those in the CG (p = 0.019). All individuals were stratified into low, intermediate and high cardiovascular risk. Despite the higher frequency of high cardiovascular risk in the AS group, the difference was not significant; thus, there was no