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Risk for cardiovascular disease in Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a large-scale epidemiological study

Kunihiko Tanaka1, Kenji Hamada1, Terumi Nakayama1

  • 1Drug Safety Division, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., 1-1 Nihonbashi-Muromachi 2-Chome, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, 103-8324 Japan.

Springerplus
|August 2, 2016
PubMed

Insights

Japanese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) face a significantly higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Systemic inflammation, indicated by C-reactive protein (CRP), may also contribute to this increased CVD risk.

Area of Science:

  • Rheumatology
  • Cardiology
  • Epidemiology

Background:

  • Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease.
  • Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major concern in RA patients.
  • Understanding CVD risk in Japanese RA patients is crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Japanese patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
  • To explore the association between systemic inflammation markers and CVD risk in RA patients.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized a Japanese health insurance claims database (Medical Data Vision) from April 2011 to March 2014.
  • Identified 8658 RA patients using ICD-10 codes and anti-RA drug history.
  • Calculated CVD incidence rate ratios (IRR) comparing RA patients to osteoarthritis patients, analyzing risk factors with Cox models.

Main Results:

  • RA patients exhibited a significantly higher risk for total CVD (IRR 2.12), ischemic heart disease (IRR 2.16), heart failure (IRR 2.34), and stroke (IRR 1.68) compared to osteoarthritis.
  • A trend suggested increased cardiovascular risk with higher baseline C-reactive protein (CRP) levels, though not statistically significant (HR 1.43).

Conclusions:

  • Japanese RA patients have an elevated risk of developing cardiovascular diseases.
  • Systemic inflammation appears to be associated with an increased risk of CVD in rheumatoid arthritis patients.
Abstract

Keywords:
Cardiovascular diseaseEpidemiologyHealthcare databaseJapaneseRheumatoid arthritis

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