Rheumatoid arthritis and risk of pancreatitis: a nationwide cohort study

We aimed to assess whether patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher risk of developing acute and chronic pancreatitis compared to individuals without RA. We identified 54,910 individuals with RA between 2010 and 2017. After exclusion, they were matched in a 1:3 ratio based on age and gender to control population without RA. Cox regression analyses were performed to estimate hazard ratio. During a median follow-up of 5.5 years, 0.18% of the patients with RA and 0.14% of the matched control developed acute pancreatitis. The risk acute pancreatitis was higher in the RA cohort compared to matched control (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 1.33; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02-1.74). In the case of chronic pancreatitis, 0.11% of patients with RA and 0.09% of the matched control developed chronic pancreatitis. Patients with RA appear to have a marginally elevated risk of chronic pancreatitis compared to matched controls (aHR 1.25, 95% CI 0.90-1.74), though this increase did not achieve statistical significance. The risk of acute pancreatitis is slightly higher in individuals with RA than in matched controls. The risk of chronic pancreatitis did not show statistical significance, but it tended to increase marginally in patients with RA.