Increased Cardiovascular Disease in Patients with Inflammatory Arthritis in Primary Care: A Cross-sectional Observation

Abstract

Objective To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with inflammatory arthritis and control subjects registered in primary care.

Methods Conditional logistic regression analyses were used to compare the CVD prevalence in patients and controls, aged 50–75 years.

Results Overall, the CVD prevalence was 66.1 per 1000 patients in inflammatory arthritis and 37.3 per 1000 patients in controls, resulting in an odds ratio of 1.83 (95% confidence interval 1.33–2.51).

Conclusion Inflammatory arthritis patients registered in primary care are associated with an increased cardiovascular burden, which emphasizes the need for cardiovascular risk management in the primary care setting.