title: Epidemiological profile of colombian patients with rheumatoid arthritis in a specialized care clinic.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few studies report the epidemiological profile of RA patients attending clinics for comprehensive care. We describe the clinical, socio-demographic characteristics and comorbidities of a cohort of patients with RA.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study in a cohort of patients according to ACR criteria/EULAR 2010 classification who have entered to the AR clinic since October 2012 until May 2014, referred from primary care. Frequencies for socio-demographic, comorbidity, state of disease activity, functional status, biomarkers and therapeutic modalities variables are described.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In total, 1652 patients were included with a mean age of 58 years and a duration of 9 years. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 80% and anti-citrullinated peptide antibody in 63% of patients. In total, 43.6% of patients had comorbidities: Hypertension (20.4%), osteoporosis (17.3%) and Sjögren's syndrome (10.4%). Fifty percent of the patients had moderate and high disease activity level measured by DAS-28 score, and the mean HAQ score was 0.64 (DS 1.12). Seventy three percent of patients were treated with oral disease modified anti rheumatic treatment and 63.6% of them were with methotrexate. 42.4% of the patients were treated with glucocorticoids (mean dose 6.3mg).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The epidemiological behavior of a group of RA patients is reported. The presence of comorbidities is significant affecting the risk of morbidity and mortality in these patients. The definition of the epidemiological profile of this population will allow the design of research questions to resolve outstanding problems in the clinical context of this pathology.
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia; Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Militar Nueva Granada, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: wilson.bautista@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wilson
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bautista-Molano
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fernández-Avila
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Ruth
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Jiménez
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cardozo
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marín
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigaciones, Fundación Universitaria Sanitas, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: María Del Pilar
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Soler
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gómez
authors.affiliation: Clínica de Artritis Reumatoide, Centro Médico Palermo, Organización Sanitas Internacional, Bogotá, Colombia.
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ruiz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D018501:Antirheumatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003105:Colombia / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018501:Antirheumatic Agents
keywords: Artritis reumatoide; Cohort; Cohorte; Epidemiological profile; Perfil epidemiológico; Rheumatoid arthritis