Ms. Martinez et al., Survival study of rheumatoid arthritis patients in Madrid (Spain) - A 9-year prospective follow-up, SC J RHEUM, 30(4), 2001, pp. 195-198
Objective: To determine the risk and causes of death in rheumatoid arthriti
s (RA) patients in Madrid.
Methods: A longitudinal survival analysis was made. 182 RA patients of the
rheumatology clinic of a tertiary care hospital were studied, 42 (23%) male
s and 140 (77%) females. All were followed-up for a 9-year period or to the
date of death. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for both male and female cohor
ts were performed. The logrank test was used to compare both distributions
and to determine the statistical significance.
Results: The mortality rate for the RA patient cohort was 15.4 deaths/1000
person-years (10.2/1000 for the female and 34.2/1000 for the male cohorts).
The mortality rate ratio was 3.3. The logrank test showed a statistical di
fference (p=0.0023). The standardized mortality ratio was 1.85 for RA patie
nts. The causes of death were: cardiovascular diseases 5 (21%), infections
5 (21%), amyloidosis 4 (17%), malignant diseases 2 (8%).
Conclusions: Mortality is nearly two times higher in our population of RA p
atients. Male patients have a much lower survival probability than females.
Cardiovascular diseases, infections and amyloidosis were the most common c
auses of death.