Resumen

MACHADO-ALBA, Jorge Enrique; RUIZ, Andrés Felipe  y  MEDINA MORALES, Diego Alejandro. The epidemiology of rheumatoid arthritis in a cohort of Colombian patients. Rev.Colomb.Reumatol. [online]. 2015, vol.22, n.3, pp.148-152. ISSN 0121-8123.  https://doi.org/10.10167j.rcreu.2015.05.006.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease with an estimated prevalence of between 0.8% and 1.0%. It is most common in women. Epidemiological RA data in Colombia is scarce. The objective was to determine epidemiological and pharmacological characteristics of a population diagnosed with RA across 5 Colombian cities between the years 2009 and 2013. Methods: A descriptive study was developed that used information from medical records at a rheumatology patients care facility. The records were identified according to the keywords "rheumatoid arthritis". The socio-demographic, clinical, para-clinical and pharmacological variables were then recorded. The analysis was performed using IBM SPSS-22.0 software. Results: Out of a total of 1364 patients, disease prevalence was estimated at 0.15%, with a mean age of 53.2 ± 13.9. The symptoms started at 41.3 ± 14.0 years old, and 81.9% were women. The DAS-28 (Disease Activity Score in 28 joints) mean was 3.46, and 12.9% of the patients were smokers. Osteoporosis (32.3% of patients) and high blood pressure (32.1%) were the most common comorbidities, while methotrexate was the most prescribed medication (98.4%). Conclusions: This is the first study in Colombia to use a large cohort in order to gather valid information that establishes clinical characteristics, disease behavior, comorbidities, and medication trends in the country.

Palabras clave : Anti-rheumatic agents; Juvenile arthritis; Rheumatoid arthritis; Epidemiology; Methotrexate; Colombia.

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