Nutritional status in rheumatoid arthritis. Effects of disease activity, corticosteroid therapy and functional impairment.
Sixty-five patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) (mean age 37.2 years) were compared with 71 controls (mean age 33.8 years). Anthropometric measurements included body diameters and skin-fold thickness at multiple sites, while biochemical markers of nutritional status included serum albumin, thyroxine-binding pre-albumin and retinol-binding globulin levels. None of the RA subjects was outside the range that extended 2 standard deviations above and below the normal control values for lean body mass. Discriminant analysis showed that corticosteroid therapy did not significantly influence skinfold thickness in RA. A combination of bi-acromial and bi-ankle diameters had a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 72% in differentiating the RA group, in whom disease activity had a greater effect on body diameters than corticosteroid therapy did. Differences related to functional impairment were a manifestation of disease activity rather than a direct effect on skinfold thickness or body diameters. According to anthropometric measurements in ambulant patients, RA does not result in malnutrition in young individuals.
Kalla
A A
AA
Department of Medicine, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town.
Brown
G M
GM
Meyers
O L
OL
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D000886:Anthropometry; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009752:Nutritional Status / Q000502:physiology*; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D013975:Thyroxine-Binding Proteins / Q000032:analysis
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; D013975:Thyroxine-Binding Proteins; D002097:C-Reactive Protein