Five-year incidence of common comorbidities, such as hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer, in older Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

AIM

To estimate the 5-year incidence of common comorbidities, including lifestyle-associated diseases, in older Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

METHODS

We enrolled 129 consecutive patients with RA aged ≥65 years in this study. We examined all patients for the presence of hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer at baseline (in 2013) and 5 years later (in 2018) using clinical records, self-reported questionnaires, interviews and medication records.

RESULTS

At baseline, hypertension was prevalent in 37.2% of the patients, dyslipidemia in 18.6%, diabetes mellitus in 9.3%, cardiovascular disease in 14.7%, cerebrovascular disease in 10.1% and cancer in 10.1%. Furthermore, the change of prevalence after 5 years from baseline of hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease and cancer was 4.6%, 3.9%, 0.8%, 4.7%, 2.3% and 1.5%, respectively. The factors associated at baseline and/or after 5 years of hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease and cancer included disease duration and body mass index, body mass index and anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody, corticosteroid use, body mass index, and male and disease duration, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

The Japanese population is aging and so is the population of patients with RA. In older patients with RA, hypertension and cardiovascular disease should be particularly considered. Therefore, although the therapeutic agents for RA have improved, a better understanding of the comorbidities in older patients with RA should impact the treatment of RA. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2019; 19: 577-581.