Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of mortality in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Along with traditional cardiovascular risk factors and systemic inflammation, metabolic syndrome (MetS) contributes to CVD and increased mortality in patients with RA. In this study we determine the prevalence of MetS in RA patients presenting to a tertiary care centre in north India.
Methods: This is a case control study involving 114 patients of RA with disease duration of ≥1 year and 114 healthy controls who are age and sex matched. Components of MetS were assessed in all the subjects and disease activity of RA was determined by DAS28-ESR. MetS was defined according to modified ATP-III criteria and consensus definition of metabolic syndrome for adult Asian Indians.
Results: Women constituted 81.6% in RA group and 80.5% in control group. Mean age of subjects was 44.81±12.7 years in RA group and 43.27±12.6 years in control group. According to modified ATP-III criteria, 36 (31.6%) RA subjects and 17 (14.9%) controls had MetS (p=0.03). According to the consensus definition of metabolic syndrome for adult Asian Indian criteria, 40 (35.1%) RA subjects and 18 (15.8%) controls had MetS (P=0.01). There was no significant difference in disease activity between subjects of RA with or without MetS (p=0.276).
Conclusion: The prevalence of MetS was higher in RA subjects compared to controls. There is no association of MetS with disease activity in our cohort. Larger studies are needed to determine the relation between MetS and disease activity.
© Journal of the Association of Physicians of India 2011.