The patient’s voice: a cross-sectional study of physical health and disability in juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Table 1 Clinical characteristics of the study population

	JIA		Controls
	N^a	*Values*	N^a	*Values*
Females, n (%)	221	131 (59.3)	224	134 (59.8)
Age at examination, median years (IQR)	221	12.7 (9.4, 14.7)	224	12.6 (9.6, 14.9)
Parent with higher education^b, n (%)	212	148 (69.8)	216	175 (81.0)
Caucasian ethnicity^c, n (%)	220	214 (97.3)	221	205 (92.8)
Iso-BMI^d, n (%)
Underweight	221	15 (6.8)	217	9 (4.1)
Normal weight	221	155 (70.1)	217	163 (75.1)
Overweight	221	40 (18.1)	217	39 (18.0)
Obesity	221	11 (5.0)	217	6 (2.8)

N Number, JIA Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, IQR Interquartile range, Iso-BMI Body Mass Index adjusted for age and sex
^aNumber of participants assessed for each variable, excluding missing/unknown values. Total JIA group, N = 221. Total control group, N = 224
^bParent education was divided into 4 levels: Primary and middle school (7 to 10 years of education), high school (11 to 13 or 14 years), university education < 5 years, and university education > 5 years; the last 2 levels were grouped together as parents with higher education. The grouping was defined according to the parent with the highest education level
^cEthnicity was divided into two groups: Caucasian and non-Caucasian according to self-report
^dCalculated using the formula: Weight (kilograms)/[height (metres)]² and subsequently adjusted for age and sex according to The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) cut-off values to allow for comparison with adult BMI groups as defined by Cole TJ, et al.: Underweight: < 18.5, normal weight: 18.5–24.9, overweight: 25–29.9, obesity: ≥ 30 kg/m²

ISSN: 1546-0096