Spss software program version 15

Patient characteristics were reported as simple descriptive statistics. In univariate analysis, categorical variables were compared using Fisher’s exact test, while continuous variables were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test for non-parametric data with a non-normal distribution and the t test for normally distributed data. MicroRNA plasma levels were calculated between groups using ANOVA and post hoc analysis with the Bonferroni method. We performed multivariate analysis by estimating odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) using a logistic regression model. The chi-square test was used to compare different diseases between each group and examine the prevalence of comorbidities between PSO and PSA patients according to level of disease severity. Statistical significance was defined as a p value of less than 0.05. All analyses were performed using the SPSS software program, version 15.5 (SPSS, Chicago, IL).

Patient characteristics are given as simple descriptive statistics. The means and standard deviations (SDs) were used to summarize continuous variables, and percentages for data with nonnormal distributions. For continuous variables with nonnormal distribution, arcsine transformation was used to transform the variates into a normal distribution before analysis. In the univariate analysis, categorical and continuous variables were compared using the Fisher's exact test or chi square test and the Student t-test, respectively. In the multivariate analysis, a one-way ANOVA was used to compare between the different subgroups. Statistical significance was defined as a p value less than 0.05. All analyses were performed using the SPSS software program, version 15.5 (SPSS, Chicago, IL).