Obstetric outcomes in women with rheumatoid arthritis: Results from Nationwide Inpatient Sample Database 2003-2011^✰

Fertility is reduced in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis due to unknown cause. Few studies have addressed pregnancy outcomes in RA. This study was undertaken to determine the frequency of complications occurring during pregnancy for women with RA and compare with the general obstetric population by using the largest inpatient care database.

By using the 2003-2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample of Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, we estimated the number of obstetric hospitalization in women with RA between the age group 18-50 years. Demographic characteristics and in-hospital obstetric complications for all pregnancy-related admissions for women with and without RA were compared. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to obtain adjusted odds ratio.

The total number of obstetric hospitalization was 42.32 million of which 31,439 were women with RA. The maternal age of RA population was higher (30.5 years) than that in the control group (27 years). After adjusting for potential confounders, maternal RA population had a significantly higher prevalence of hypertensive diseases, premature rupture of membranes, antepartum hemorrhage, preterm delivery, intrauterine growth retardation and cesarean delivery. The prevalence of postpartum hemorrhage and the risk of inpatient mortality were not different between two groups.

Women with RA have a higher risk of adverse outcomes of pregnancy and thus close antenatal and post-delivery monitoring need to be performed in order to reduce complications. Further studies are needed to examine these findings in relation to severity of disease, medications used and the presence of other comorbidities.