Prevalence of Cardiovascular Risks in Patients with Psoriatic Arthritis

According to a recent study, the rates for cardiovascular risk factors of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and obesity were high in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis (PsO), and psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

For their study, the researchers located patients with RA, PsO, or PsA through medical and pharmacy claims using the MarketScan claims databases between January 2002 to December 2014. The prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was calculated within the 12 months before diagnosis, and the incidence rates per 1000 patients-year were calculated with a 95% confidence internal.
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Their findings showed that 18.6% of patients with RA, 16.6% of patients with PsO, and 19.9% of patients with PsA had hypertension. Diabetes was prevalent in 6.2% of patients with RA, 6.3% with PsO, and 7.8% with PsA. Hyperlipidemia was diagnosed in 9.9% of patients with RA, 10.4% in patients with PsO, and 11.6% in patients with PsA. 4.4% of patients with RA, 3.8% with PsO, and 6.0% of patients with PsA were diagnosed with obesity.

In addition, the incidence rates per 1000 patients-years during the follow-up was 74 hypertension cases for patients with RA, 68.2 cases for patients with PsO, and 79.8 cases for patients with PsA. Diabetes mellitus had 10.6 cases of patients with RA, 13 patients with PsO, and 14.7 patients with PsA. Incidences of hyperlipidemia were 40.3 in patients with RA, 47.1 in patients with PsO, and 52 in patients with PsA. Obseity rates were 24.4 for patients with RA, 26.4 for patients with PsO, and 32.9 for patients with PsA.

Overall, patients with psoriatic arthritis had the highest risk for cardiovascular risk factors, with hypertension in 19.9%, diabetes in 7.8%, hyperlipidemia in 11.6%, and obesity in 6% of patients.

“Patients with RA, PsO, and PsA have high prevalence and incidence of CV risk factors, suggesting the need for risk factor monitoring of these patients,” the researchers concluded.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Radner H, Lesperance T, Accortt NA, and Solomon DH. Incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors among patients with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, or psoriatic arthritis [published online December 20, 2016]. Arthritis Care and Research. doi:10.1002/acr.23171.