Comorbidities in rheumatoid arthritis: the RBSMR study

Objective: The objectives of this study are as follows: to define the profile of comorbidities during rheumatoid arthritis; deduce the predictive factors for their occurrence and their impact on the activity and severity of the disease. Methods: 225 patients followed for rheumatoid arthritis, meeting the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria under biotherapy, included in the national biotherapy register. We proceeded to group patients into 2 groups: patients with and without co-morbidities in order to study the prevalence of co-morbidities, their predictors of occurrence and the correlation between these co-morbidities, the activity and the severity of the disease. Results: The average age was 51.94 years ± 11.36 (20-80) with a female predominance of 87.6%, the average duration of evolution was 737.8 weeks with an average diagnostic delay of 719.5 weeks. The average SAR 28 (crp) was 3.5 ± 1.39. Corticosteroid therapy was noted in 94.2%, with an average cumulative dose of 37,360 mg. The average body mass index was 27.56 kg/m2. At least comorbidity was present in 67.1% of patients, the most common of which was osteoporosis (22.7%). The presence of comorbidity was associated with a longer duration of development (p=0.001) and positive rheumatoid serology (p=0.049). Likewise, they were more frequent among women without a profession. Conclusion: Our study confirms the high prevalence of comorbidities during rheumatoid arthritis, hence the importance of screening them for better management.