title: Gender differences in Latin-American patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Data on the effect of gender in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in non-Caucasian populations is scarce. Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) is a large population with unique characteristics, including high admixture.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Our aim was to examine the effect of gender in patients with RA in LAC.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a 2-phase study. First we conducted a cross-sectional and analytical study in which 1128 consecutive Colombian patients with RA were assessed. Second, a systematic review of the literature was done to evaluate the effect of gender in LAC patients with RA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results show a high prevalence of RA in LAC women with a ratio of 5.2 women per man. Colombian women with RA are more at risk of having an early age at onset and developing polyautoimmunity and abdominal obesity, and they perform more household duties than their male counterparts. However, male gender was associated with the presence of extra-articular manifestations. Of a total of 641 potentially relevant articles, 38 were considered for final analysis, in which several factors and outcomes related to gender were identified.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RA in LAC women is not only more common but presents with some clinical characteristics that differ from RA presentation in men. Some of those characteristics could explain the high rates of disability and worse prognosis observed in women with RA in LAC.
authors.affiliation: Center for Autoimmune Diseases Research (CREA), School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universidad del Rosario, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Barragán-Martínez
authors.forename: Jenny
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amaya-Amaya
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pineda-Tamayo
authors.forename: Rubén D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Mantilla
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Castellanos-de la Hoz
authors.forename: Santiago
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bernal-Macías
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rojas-Villarraga
authors.forename: Juan-Manuel
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Anaya
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017668:Age of Onset; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006796:Household Work; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000097:blood; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D012217:Rheumatoid Factor