Association Between the Quality of Life Domains with Anthropometric and Adiposity Indices in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Single Centre in Erbil-Iraq.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to assess the association between the anthropometric/adiposity indices or ratios with the status of quality of life (QoL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

METHODS

This study was carried out in the Rizgary Teaching Hospital in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq between 1 December 2021 and 31 March 2022. Seventy-five women with a mean value of 11.3 years' duration of disease were included in this study. The data relating to the demographic characteristics, disease activity score (DAS-28), biochemical measurements of the rheumatic profile, and anthropometric/adiposity indices and the ratios were included. The QoL of each patient was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF.

RESULTS

The mean ± SD of the age and duration of disease were 49.6± 12.0, and 11.3±8.4 year. 70 out of 75 (93.3%) patients have a DAS-28 score of >2.6. The median values of the transform scores of the WHOQOL-BREF domains were less than 50. There were significant inverse correlations between BMI, and waist-to-height ratio with physical activity (r = -0.167, p = 0.05, and r = -0.168, p = 0.05, respectively). Social domain was significantly and inversely correlated with waist-to-hip, estimated total body fat, and waist-adjusted weight index. A higher BMI and a lower hip index were associated significantly with a lower mean scores of physical health

CONCLUSION

In RA patients, obesity is frequently observed. Over-weight and obese patients had a significantly lower mean score of physical health.