COMORBIDITY IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Abstract

Objective: to study the pattern and rate of comorbid diseases in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the Saratov Region.Subjects and methods. The investigation enrolled 328 RA patients treated at the Rheumatology Unit, Saratov Regional Clinical Hospital, in 2011 to 2013. RA was diagnosed using the 1987 ACR criteria and the 2010 ACR/EULAR ones. The investigation included the patients receiving disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) at a stable dose for 3 months or longer. A questionnaire survey and objective examination were made in the patients; data from their medical records were taken into account.Results and discussion. Comorbidities were identified in 86.6% of the patients; 57.9% had a concurrence of two or more comorbid conditions. Osteoarthritis, hypertension, and coronary heart disease were detected in 50.7, 57.7, and 30.9% of the RA patients, respectively. Out of the inflammatory diseases, gastrointestinal tract lesion was most common (80.3%); urinary tract infections were slightly less common (19.7%).Conclusion. The high rate of comorbidity was noted in patients with RA. The pattern of comorbidities shows a preponderance of hypertension and osteoarthritis and an exacerbation of gastrointestinal and urinary tract diseases frequently makes the choice of DMARD difficult.

Keywords

• rheumatoid arthritis
• comorbidity
• multimorbidity
• cardiovascular disease
• efficiency of therapy