Prevalence of joint complaints amongst individuals with Dupuytren's disease - From the Reykjavik study

It has been reported that Dupuytren's disease is very uncommon amongst pati ents with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We investigated the prevalence of diff erent joint complaints in a cohort of 1297 males, aged 46-74 years, partici pating in a prospective longitudinal health survey. Joint complaints were l ess frequently observed in men with Dupugtren's disease than in those who d id not have any signs of this disease. When adjusted for age the Dupuytren' s patients had less frequently history of morning stiffness (odds ratio (OR )=0.65; 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.44-0.98, P=0.04), joint swelling (OR =0.52; 95% CI=0.27-1.00, P=0.05), and attendance to doctors due to rheumati c disorders (OR=0.44; 95% CI=0.15-0.86, P=0.02) than those who did not have clinical signs of Dupuytren's disease. Furthermore, these associations wer e even stronger after adjustment for other potential confounding factors, s uch as smoking, lipids, diabetes, education, and occupation. The reason for a negative association between Dupuytren's disease and joint complaints is not clear but genetic and immunological factors may be important.