Takeaway
- Patients with osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were more likely to have or develop prevalent and incident frailty.
- Furthermore, common comorbidities were associated with increased prevalent frailty in patients with OA and RA.
Why this matters
- Findings emphasise the significance of targeted interventions to prevent and manage common comorbidities in patients with OA and RA.
Study design
- The study involved 457,561 participants (age, 40-69 years) from the UK Biobank.
- Frailty was evaluated using a frailty index (FI; continuous) and a modified frailty phenotype (robust, pre-frail and frail).
- The association between different comorbidities and prevalent frailty in patients with OA and RA was evaluated.
- Funding: None.
Key results
- Of the 457,561 participants, 4894 (1.1%) had RA and 35,884 (7.8%) had OA.
- Patients with RA (adjusted relative risk ratio [aRRR], 10.7; 95% CI, 9.7-11.7) and OA (aRRR, 3.4; 95% CI, 3.3-3.6) were more likely to have prevalent frailty and a higher FI at baseline.
- Considering the interaction between RA and each of the comorbidities, the attributable proportion (AP; 95% CI) between RA and stroke/transient ischaemic attack and the risk of frailty was highest (0.60; 0.38-0.82), followed by RA and depression (0.53; 0.35-0.70) and RA and congenital heart disease (CHD; 0.52; 0.36-0.68).
- Considering the interaction between OA and each of the comorbidities, the AP (95% CI) between OA and diabetes and the risk of frailty was highest (0.49; 0.42-0.55), followed by OA and CHD (0.48; 0.41-0.55) and OA and depression (0.47; 0.41-0.53).
Limitations
- Response rate for the UK Biobank study was low (5.5%).
This clinical summary originally appeared on Univadis, part of the Medscape Professional Network.
