Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system mistakenly attacks the joints, causing pain, stiffness, and swelling in the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis affects both men and women. However, research reports that RA affects women harder than men. For reasons not yet understood, women don't respond as well as men to RA therapies.
The study, presented at the 2006 European League Against Rheumatism Annual Meeting, investigated the frequency of remission in men and women. Researchers at the Huddinge University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden analyzed data from the BARFOT follow-up program including 698 patients diagnosed with recent-onset RA, from 1995 to 1999. The patient mean age was 58 years old and 64 percent of the participants were women. The participants' functional disability and pain were assessed with the Swedish version of the Health Assessment Questionnaire, the patient assessment visual analogue scale, and the physician assessment five-grade Likert scale. The researchers examined the participants' frequency of remission at two years and at five years,
The researchers found that 261 of the 689 participants were in remission at the two year follow-up, and 230 or 598 patients were in remission at the five-year follow-up. However, only 32 percent of women were in remission, compared with 49 percent of men at the two year follow-up. After five years, only 31 percent of women were in remission, compared with 52 percent of men. Findings also revealed that at the two and five year follow-ups, the Health Assessment Questionnaire score, physician assessment, morning stiffness and pain were worse in women.
"Remission rates in this cohort of patients with early RA were similar to or higher than those in previous reports," the study authors write. "Importantly, women had a much lower remission rate than men although their disease activity at treatment start was not explicitly different. The reasons for this gender discrepancy are at present unclear and merit further investigation. However, the data seems solid enough to call for reinforced vigilance in the frequency and quality of follow-up in order to achieve an optimal suppression of the inflammatory process in all patients, regardless of gender."
REFERENCES:
1. Svensson B et al. "Remission of Early RA in Clinical Practice: Frequency and Gender Differences." Abstract OP0098, presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Meeting, June 23, 2006. http://www.eular.org
Posted by Elaine Gavalas on September 23, 2006 03:30 PM
