Increased cardiovascular disease in patients with inflammatory arthritis in primary care: a cross-sectional observation.
OBJECTIVE
To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with inflammatory arthritis and control subjects registered in primary care.


METHODS
Conditional logistic regression analyses were used to compare the CVD prevalence in patients and controls, aged 50-75 years.


RESULTS
Overall, the CVD prevalence was 66.1 per 1000 patients in inflammatory arthritis and 37.3 per 1000 patients in controls, resulting in an odds ratio of 1.83 (95% confidence interval 1.33-2.51).


CONCLUSIONS
Inflammatory arthritis patients registered in primary care are associated with an increased cardiovascular burden, which emphasizes the need for cardiovascular risk management in the primary care setting.
Peters
Mike J L
MJ
VU University Medical Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. mt.nurmohamed@vumc.nl
Nielen
Mark M J
MM
Raterman
Hennie G
HG
Verheij
Robert A
RA
Schellevis
Francois G
FG
Nurmohamed
Michael T
MT
D000368:Aged; D001168:Arthritis / Q000150:complications*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012307:Risk Factors