Acupuncture decreased the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Taiwan: a Nationwide propensity score-matched study

Table 1 Characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis patients according to whether they received acupuncture treatment

Variable	Rheumatoid arthritis Underwent acupuncture				Standardized mean difference
	No (n = 9932)		Yes (n = 9932)
	n	%	n	%
Sex
Female	8212	82.68	8225	82.81	0.003
Male	1720	17.32	1707	17.19	0.003
Age group
18–39	2267	22.83	2013	20.27	0.003
40–59	6099	61.41	6659	67.05	0.003
≥60	1566	15.77	1260	12.69	0.003
Mean ± SD (years)	50.39 (13.7)		50.36 (12.53)		0.002
Baseline Comorbidity
Diabetes mellitus	1211	12.19	1193	12.01	0.006
Hypertension	2358	23.74	2339	23.55	0.005
Hyperlipidemia	1488	14.98	1475	14.85	0.004
Congestive heart failure	94	0.95	107	1.08	0.013
Stroke	741	7.46	731	7.36	0.004
Depression	631	6.35	618	6.22	0.005
Anxiety	1525	15.35	1499	15.09	0.007
Alcoholism	20	0.20	24	0.24	0.009
Tobacco dependence	27	0.27	30	0.30	0.006
Obesity	80	0.81	77	0.78	0.003
Drug use
Methotrexate	7131	71.80	7130	71.79	0
Hydroxychloroquine	8372	84.29	8423	84.81	0.014
Sulfasalazine	7289	73.39	7278	73.28	0.003
TNF-α inhibitors	1137	11.45	1151	11.59	0.004
NSAIDs	9908	99.76	9909	99.77	0.002
Oral steroids	9449	95.14	9438	95.03	0.005
Statins	1449	14.59	1438	14.48	0.003
Types of acupuncture
Manual acupuncture of TCM type			8614	86.73
Electroacupuncture			340	3.42
Combination of manual acupuncture and electroacupuncture			978	9.85
Immortal time, days (mean, median)	1064.07 (989.63)		1044.96 (1056.50)
Acupuncture visits, mean			9.81
Follow-up time, years (mean, median)	4.02 (3.03)		4.91 (3.44)

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