Data are presented as mean ± SD or frequency (%); the Kruskal-Wallis test was used for comparison among the three groups. χ2: Chi-square test; *: significant as P < 0.05 represents the overall comparison among the three groups; anti-CCP: anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide; CRP: C-reactive protein; ESR: erythrocyte sedimentation rate.
Declarations
Author contributions
NMAEMS: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing—original draft. MTYG: Conceptualization, Writing—original draft. AAMS and ASEB: Methodology, Writing—review & editing, Supervision, Validation. TFM: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing—review & editing, Supervision, Validation. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Conflicts of interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Ethical approval
The study was approved by the Tanta University Hospitals Research Ethical Committee (Approval code: 36061/11/22). This study complies with the Declaration of Helsinki (2013).
Consent to participate
Informed consent to participate in the study was obtained from all participants.
Consent to publication
Not applicable.
Availability of data and materials
The raw data supporting the conclusions of this manuscript will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation, to any qualified researcher.
Open Exploration maintains a neutral stance on jurisdictional claims in published institutional affiliations and maps. All opinions expressed in this article are the personal views of the author(s) and do not represent the stance of the editorial team or the publisher.
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