Undernutrition in rheumatoid arthritis patients with disability

Clinical evaluation of nutritional status (NS) was performed in 75 rheumatoid arthritis patients. They were distributed according to functional class, radiological stage and other prognostic factors (rheumatoid factor, extraarticular disease, disease duration). Evaluation of the different anthropometrical measurements in this group of long-standing RA patients (average disease duration: 10 years) revealed a significant impairment of lean body mass (LBM), especially among those with greater disability (Functional Class III and IV). Patients in more severe radiological stages (Radiological Stage III and IV) or patients with extraarticular disease also presented a significant loss of LBM compared with a matched cohort of the general population and patients with a more benign-course disease. There was less impairment of the fat mass, according to our clinical evaluation. Serological parameters of undernutrition (albumin and transferrin) did not show significant differences among the groups of patients. Clinical evaluation of NS in RA patients is a useful procedure for recognising patients at high risk of related complications by means of their poor nutritional status.