Is arthritis associated with cardiovascular diseases in both sexes? An analysis of NHANES data

Background: Among arthritis patients, cardiovascular morbidity is increased, and sex disparities exist in cardiovascular diseases and arthritis. Thus, the hypothesis that the association between cardiovascular diseases and arthritis might vary according to sex seems plausible. Aim: To examine the relationship of arthritis with the most frequently diagnosed cardiovascular diseases, and to check if sex modifies this association. Methods: We analyzed data from a large representative sample of the U.S. population: The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005- 2006. Our cross-sectional analyses included 3621 participants aged between 20 and 69 years old. Self-reported diagnoses of arthritis (main independent variable) and cardiovascular diseases (dependent variable) were measured during face-to-face interviews, and different covariates were identified as potential confounders for the association examined. Analyses were stratified by sex. Results: In multivariate analyses, a significant positive association was found between arthritis and cardiovascular diseases (OR: 2.01; 95% CI: 1.38-2.94; p value=0.0003), but there was no effect modification by sex (men: OR: 1.95; 95% CI: 1.32-2.87 / women: OR: 2.38; 95% CI: 0.96-5.86) (p=0,729). Conclusions: In this large cross-sectional study, we observed a statistically significant association between self-reported diagnoses of arthritis and cardiovascular diseases in a cohort of non-institutionalized U.S. adults. The association persisted after adjustment for several confounders but was not modified by sex.