Cachexia Prevalence in a Population of Moroccan Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis

To assess body composition in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared to healthy controls, to calculate the prevalence of rheumatoid Cachexia (RC), and to identify the associated factors.

We conducted a case-control study on 112 female patients with RA according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism classification criteria for RA; and 224 age-matched healthy women. Body composition (BC) and bone mineral density (BMD) scans were obtained using Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). RC was defined by a fat-free mass index (FFMI) below the 10^th percentile and a fat mass index (FMI) above the 25^th percentile compared with the control group. We conducted a comparison between RA patients and healthy controls then a multiple regression analysis was conducted where the dependant variable is the presence of RC.

RC prevalence was 42.85% while the mean body mass index (BMI) was the same in both groups. RA patients had a higher FM and lower FFM comparing to healthy controls. In our population, 78.60% of patients were on methotrexate and 12.50% on anti TNF therapy. Comparison between patients with and without RC showed that patients with RC have a higher proportion of erosive arthritis and of active disease. Regression logistic analysis showed that RC was significantly associated to erosive arthritis and active disease (OR at 33.31 (8.42-131.70) and 8.98 (1.64-49.20) respectively), independently of age, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, C-reactive protein, disease duration, steroid cumulative dose and biologic Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs(bDMARDs) use.

Our study showed that almost half of our RA patients have RC, even with a high BMI.