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Table 2
Efficacy parameters
Characteristic	Baseline (n = 21)			3 weeks (n = 21)			P-value	15 weeks (n = 14)			P-value

6-minute walking distance, m
Mean change	386	±	121	425	±	118		447	±	139
				64	±	17	< 0.001^a	71	±	35	0.003
95% CI for the difference to baseline				42	-	85		48	-	95

Quality of life questionnaire SF36, score
Physical functioning	33.5	±	20				0.025^b	45.2	±	20	0.025^b
Role-physical	60.4	±	36				0.317	65.6	±	23	0.317
Bodily pain	58.1	±	33				0.260	62.2	±	31	0.260
General health perception	31.6	±	15				0.049^b	35.9	±	14	0.049^b
Vitality	38.1	±	14				0.021^b	48.1	±	18	0.021^b
Social functioning	61.8	±	30				0.008^a	71.4	±	23	0.008^a
Role-emotional	77.6	±	22				0.115	91.6	±	14	0.115
Mental Health	56.8	±	21				0.033^b	66.2	±	16	0.033^b

Cardiopulmonary exercise testing
Peak VO₂/kg, mL/min/kg	11.8	±	3.4	13.6	±	3.4	0.010^b	14.1	±	3.5	0.008^a
Peak VO₂, ml/min	822	±	252	882	±	218	0.011^b	887	±	139	0.007^a
EqCO₂at AT, ml/min	41.3	±	8.9	41.3	±	9.5	0.529	42.8	±	7.1	0.138
VO₂at AT; ml/min	619	±	172	689	±	207	0.013^b	681	±	207	0.012^b
Oxygen pulse, (mL/min)/min^-1	6.7	±	1.6	6.8	±	1.8	0.127	6.3	±	0.4	0.260
HR rest, min-1	85	±	14	77	±	12	0.0001^a	78	±	16	0.045^b
HR max, min-1	122	±	21	127	±	18	0.076	140	±	20	0.005^a
RRsys rest, mmHg	117	±	17	114	±	15	0.092	111	±	15	0.653
RRdiast rest, mmHg	75	±	8	71	±	9	0.038^b	72	±	8	0.464
RRsys max, mmHg	149	±	28	154	±	18	0.743	153	±	18	0.002^a
RRdias max, mmHg	85	±	13	88	±	14	0.292	88	±	12	0.083
Oxygen saturation rest, %	94.7	±	3.0	96.7	±	3.2	0.266	96.4	±	2.8	0.421
Oxygen saturation max, %	89.8	±	5.6	90.8	±	5.8	0.052	91.7	±	6.3	0.018^b
sPAP rest, mmHg	52	±	14	47	±	9	0.005^a	50	±	10	0.210
sPAP max, mmHg	85	±	26	87	±	20	0.959	89	±	14	0.320
Workload max, W	55	±	19	67	±	23	0.007^a	65	±	20	0.008^a
Borg Scale, score	16	±	2	15	±	2	0.171	15	±	1	0.105

Laboratory parameters
C-reactive protein, mg/l	15.2	±	22.5	8.3	±	9.7	0.069	6.6	±	5.3	0.071
Leucocytes, 10⁹/l	9.2	±	7.5	10.0	±	12.9	0.071	8.6	±	7.6	0.177
NT-proBNP, pg/ml	1928	±	4623	1101	±	1380	0.164	2321	±	2671	0.646

Values are mean ± standard deviation. ^aP < 0.01, ^bP < 0.05 in comparison to baseline; P-values are the same for absolute values and differences. 6-minute walking distance data were analyzed by the two-sided Student t-test; cardiopulmonary exercise testing data were analyzed by the Wilcoxon test. CI: confidence interval; SF-36: short-form Health Survey Questionnaire; VO₂/kg: maximum oxygen consumption/kg; EqCO₂: ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide; HR: heart rate; RRsys: systolic blood pressure; RRdiast: diastolic blood pressure; sPAP: systolic pulmonary arterial pressure; NT-proBNP: N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide.
Grünig et al. Arthritis Research & Therapy 2012 14:R148 doi:10.1186/ar3883

Table 2