Influence of disease duration and socioeconomic factors on the prevalence of infection and hospitalization in rheumatoid arthritis: KRAC study.

AIM: The use of healthcare resources by rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients can be related to the presence of disease, comorbid conditions, use of steroids, and the combined use of immunosuppressants. This study evaluated the risk factors associated with infection and hospitalization in RA. METHODS: This multicenter, cross-sectional study enrolled 3247 RA subjects fulfilling the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism criteria to examine the prevalence of hospitalization and episodes of documentable non-tubercular infections as a part of the "Karnataka rheumatoid arthritis comorbidity" study (KRAC). The study included 2081 subjects and 1166 were excluded due to incomplete data. Demographic, clinical and treatment variables were collected, and the events related to infections and hospitalization were extracted from the medical records. Comparative analysis and multivariate logistic regression were performed. RESULTS: Around 22% of the subjects had hospitalizations and 2.9% had infections. Infections were pertaining to dental (1.3%), urinary tract (1.6%) and candidiasis (0.2%). Skin- and soft tissue-related infections were found in 1.8% and 0.3% of patients, respectively. Increased need of hospitalization in RA patients was associated with advanced age (≥60 years), lower education, family income, and longer duration of RA. Presence of comorbidity, usage of three or more disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and family income influenced the likelihood of infection. Dental infections were less likely in working subjects and more likely in patients with increased disease duration, higher family income, comorbidities and those between the age group 40-59 years. Urinary tract infection was associated with DMARD usage. CONCLUSION: Patient-specific risk factors should be considered to improve treatment strategies and to reduce the risk of infection and hospitalization in RA patients.

Factors influencing remission in rheumatoid arthritis patients: results from Karnataka rheumatoid arthritis comorbidity (KRAC) study.

AIM: To study the prevalence of remission in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and the influence of different factors like literacy, socioeconomic status, presence of comorbidity and treatment strategy in achieving remission. METHODS: The study involved 1990 RA patients who were recruited for the Karnataka Rheumatoid arthritis comorbidity (KRAC) study. Based on the factors evaluated, the study participants were classified as follows: age, < 30 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, 50-59 years and ≥ 60 years; educational status, illiterate/no formal education, high school or less, graduate, post-graduate and doctorate; family income (₹ per annum), < 50 000, 50-100 000, 100-500 000, and > 500 000; duration of illness prior (DOIP): ≤ 6 months, 6-24 months, 24-120 months and > 120 months. Joint counts were performed by a rheumatologist or trained joint assessor. To assess the treatment outcome, the disease activity score was calculated using the Disease activity Score of 28 joints - erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS 28-3 ESR). RESULTS: As per the DAS 28-3 ESR score, around 20% (n = 397) of the study subjects achieved remission. The corresponding mean ± SD of DAS 28-3 ESR noted for remission and non-remission groups were 2.13 ± 0.42 and 4.32 ± 1.28. The majority of the patients were treated with double disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) (60.7%). The likelihood of remission was found to be more in patients who reported DOIP ≤ 6 months. Furthermore, the chances of remission reduced with increase in patient's age and the highest remission rate was noted for 30-39 years age group (59%), followed by 40-49 years (35.4%) and 50-59 years (19.7%). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of remission noted was around 20%. Early treatment, escalating dose of DMARDs, and patient counseling are important contributing factors for attaining remission.

Reduced incidence of extra-articular manifestations of RA through effective disease control: Karnataka Rheumatoid Arthritis Comorbidity (KRAC) study.

AIM: To estimate the prevalence of extra-articular manifestations (EAM) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and the impact of demographic, clinical and treatment factors. METHOD: The study was carried out as a part of 'Karnataka Rheumatoid arthritis comorbidity (KRAC) study' conducted at 14 centers across Karnataka, India between September 2014 and July 2015. The data were collected by trained clinical research associates using a structured pro forma, under the supervision of the consulting rheumatologists. Based on the factors evaluated, the study participants were classified as follows: age, < 30 years, 30-39 years, 40-49 years, 50-59 years and ≥ 60 years; and duration of illness prior to visiting rheumatologist (DOIP), ≤ 6 months, > 6 months-2 years, 2-10 years and > 10 years. The Disease Activity Score of 28 joints-3 (erythrocyte sedimentation rate) score was calculated for each patient by three variable methods. RESULTS: The total number of patients considered for the study after exclusion was 1716. The subjects had a mean (SD) age of 48.1 (12.71) years, the male-to-female ratio was 1 : 5, and median (range) of duration of RA was 48 (0.5-484) months. The prevalence of EAM noted was around 13%. EAM were more likely during the first 2 years of the disease (odds ratio [OR]: 1.465; P = 0.047) and increased with longer DOIP. The incidence was less in patients with low disease activity (OR: 0.657) and worse with the presence of deformities (OR: 2.1). CONCLUSION: The study corroborates the current concept of effective disease control to reduce the incidence/likelihood of EAM in RA patients.