Metabolic syndrome in patients with rheumatoid arthritis followed at a University Hospital in Northeastern Brazil

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are 30-60% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CV) than the general population. Metabolic syndrome (MS), defined by a number of cardiovascular risk factors, confers a greater risk of CVdisease and diabetes. The association of MS with RA is not yet fully understood and its prevalence varies from 19 to 63% across studies.

To assess the prevalence of MS in a population of RA patients followed in a hospital in Northeastern Brazil and analyze associations of demographic and clinical factors with MS.

Outpatients with RA were evaluated in a cross-sectional study regarding demographic, clinical, laboratory and anthropometric data. The criteria for defining MS were those adopted by NCEPIII (2005) and IDF (2006).

110 patients with RA were studied; 97.3% were female, with a mean age of 55.5 years (SD=12.9) and duration of illness of 11.2 years (SD=7.3). The MS prevalence from NCEPIII (2005) and IDF (2005) were, respectively, 50% and 53.4%. Advanced age (57.9±11.9 versus 52.9±13.5; p=0.04) and smoking load >20 packs/year (29% versus 9%, p=0.008) were associated with MS. The major components of the metabolic syndrome were abdominal obesity (98.1%), hypertension (80%) and low HDL cholesterol (72.2%).

RA patients in a tertiary center in Northeastern Brazil showed high prevalence of MS. It is worth noting that almost all patients had MS and abdominal obesity, which has important practical implications. In addition to the components of MS, age and smoking were associated with this syndrome.