Comorbidities in Mexican Mestizo patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A cross-sectional study of 523 patients in a preventive cardio-rheumatology clinic

Objective

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities in a cohort of Mexican Mestizo rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods

We performed an observational and cross-sectional study involving the RA cohort of our Cardio-Rheumatology Clinic in a teaching hospital. The cohort includes patients aged 40–75 years old who fulfilled the ACR/EULAR classification criteria for RA, patients were recruited from August 2014 to July 2023. Cardiovascular risk factors and comorbidities were defined as a diagnosis included in the patient's medical record or the use of treatment for these conditions.

Results

523 patients with RA were included; the majority were women (92.3%). The median age was 55 (48.9–61.0) years. The most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors were overweight (219, 42%), obesity (157, 32.0%), dyslipidemia (165, 31.5%), and hypertension (164, 31.3%). We also detected, that 12.1% of patients without a diagnosis of hypertension had elevated blood pressure, hyperglycemia was reported in 17.2%, and lipid profile alterations were present in 70.6% of patients with no previous diagnosis of type 2 diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia, respectively.

Conclusion

Cardiovascular risk factors are prevalent in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Overweight, obesity, and dyslipidemia were the most prevalent cardiovascular risk factors in our cohort. Alterations in the lipid profile were reported in half of the patients with no previous diagnosis of dyslipidemia.