@article {MAZZANTINI2232, author = {MAURIZIO MAZZANTINI and ROSARIA TALARICO and MARICA DOVERI and ARIANNA CONSENSI and MASSIMILIANO CAZZATO and LAURA BAZZICHI and STEFANO BOMBARDIERI}, title = {Incident Comorbidity Among Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated or Not with Low-dose Glucocorticoids: A Retrospective Study}, volume = {37}, number = {11}, pages = {2232--2236}, year = {2010}, doi = {10.3899/jrheum.100461}, publisher = {The Journal of Rheumatology}, abstract = {Objective. To assess the prevalence of comorbidity in a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), treated or not with low-dose glucocorticoids (GC) and who have been followed for at least 10 years. Methods. This was a retrospective study by review of medical records. Results. We identified 365 patients: 297 (81.3\%) were GC users (4{\textendash}6 mg methylprednisolone daily) and 68 (18.7\%) were nonusers. We found that fragility fractures occurred in 18.2\% of GC users and in 6.0\% of GC nonusers (p \< 0.02); arterial hypertension in 32.3\% of GC users and in 10.4\% of GC nonusers (p \< 0.0005); acute myocardial infarction in 13.1\% of GC users and in 1.5\% of the nonusers (p \< 0.01). Prevalence of diabetes mellitus, cataract, and infections was comparable. We divided GC users into groups of different duration of GC therapy: \< 2, 2{\textendash}5, and \> 5 years; the mean duration of GC treatment was 1.3 {\textpm} 0.5, 3.6 {\textpm} 1.1, and 12.1 {\textpm} 5.1 years, respectively. GC treatment for \> 5 years was associated with significantly higher prevalence of fragility fractures (26.6\%; p \< 0.001 vs the other groups), arterial hypertension (36.7\%; p \< 0.0002 vs nonusers and GC users \< 2 years), myocardial infarction (16.1\%; p \< 0.01 vs nonusers), and infections (9.7\%; p \< 0.005 vs the other groups). GC treatment for 2{\textendash}5 years was associated with a significantly higher prevalence of arterial hypertension (30.0\%; p \< 0.01) compared to nonusers. Conclusion. Patients with RA treated with low-dose GC compared to patients never treated with GC show a higher prevalence of fractures, arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction, and serious infections, especially after 5 years of GC treatment. The high prevalence of myocardial infarction and fractures in patients with RA suggests that a more accurate identification of risk factors and prevention measures should be adopted when longterm GC treatment is needed.}, issn = {0315-162X}, URL = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/37/11/2232}, eprint = {https://www.jrheum.org/content/37/11/2232.full.pdf}, journal = {The Journal of Rheumatology} }