Kidney Dysfunction Is Common Among RA Patients
Kidney dysfunction is common among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), according to results of a new study. Older patients and those with hypertension have the highest risk of kidney dysfunction.
The study included 1908 patients with RA presenting to community hospitals in Japan between October 2014 and May 2015. During a 3-month period, the patients’ absolute and body surface area (BSA)-indexed estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) values were measured twice. The researchers defined renal dysfunction as absolute or an BSA-indexed eGFR below 60 and recorded incidents of albuminuria and hematuria. In addition, they determined potential risk factors for renal dysfunction.
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Overall, 8.1% of patients had albuminuria, and 7.5% had hematuria. Based on absolute and BSA-indexed eGFRs, the prevalence of renal dysfunction was 33.8% and 18.6%, respectively.
The risk of absolute eGFR-based renal dysfunction was independently associated with advanced age (odds ratio [OR], 7.24), female sex (OR, 3.12), hypertension (OR, 2.22), and obesity (OR, 0.59). In addition, advanced age and hypertension were associated with BSA-indexed eGFR-based renal dysfunction (ORs 5.19 and 3.05, respectively).
While univariate analyses showed that RA duration, stages, severity, and cumulative steroid dose were significant risk factors for renal failure, the associations were not as strong after the researchers adjusted for other covariates.
“Renal dysfunction is relatively common in RA patients and is mainly associated with advanced age and hypertension but not with RA-related factors,” the researchers concluded.
—Melissa Weiss
Reference:
Mori S, Yoshitama T, Hirakata N, Ueki Y. Prevalence of and factors associated with renal dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis patients: a cross-sectional study in community hospitals. Clin Rheumatol. 2017;36(12):2673-2682. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-017-3804-5.