Clinical characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis patients with interstitial lung disease: baseline data of a single-center prospective cohort

• Published in: Arthritis research & therapy Vol. 25; no. 1; pp. 43 - 9
• Main Authors: Kim, Hyoungyoung, Cho, Soo-Kyung, Song, Yeo-Jin, Kang, Juyeon, Jeong, Seung-A, Kim, Hye Won, Choi, Chan-Bum, Kim, Tae-Hwan, Jun, Jae-Bum, Bae, Sang-Cheol, Yoo, Dae-Hyun, Lee, Hyun, Park, Dong Won, Sohn, Jang Won, Yoon, Ho Joo, Hong, Su Jin, Yoo, Seung-Jin, Choi, Yo Won, Lee, Youkyung, Kim, Sang Heon, Sung, Yoon-Kyoung
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London BioMed Central 17.03.2023; BioMed Central Ltd; BMC
• Subjects: Age; Aged; Arthritis; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - complications; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - drug therapy; Arthritis, Rheumatoid - epidemiology; Body mass index; Care and treatment; Clinical characteristics; Cohort; Collaboration; Corticosteroids; Decision making; Diagnosis; Dosage and administration; Dyspnea; Female; Glucocorticoids - therapeutic use; Humans; Interstitial lung disease; Lung diseases; Lung diseases, Interstitial; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - complications; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - diagnosis; Lung Diseases, Interstitial - epidemiology; Male; Medical imaging; Medical prognosis; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Methotrexate; Methotrexate - therapeutic use; Middle Aged; Orthopedics; Pneumonia; Prospective Studies; Questionnaires; Rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatology; TNF inhibitors; Tuberculosis; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; South Korea; Clinical characteristics; Cohort; Interstitial lung disease; Rheumatoid arthritis
• ISSN: 1478-6362; 1478-6354; 1478-6362
• DOI: 10.1186/s13075-023-03024-8

Background To introduce a prospective cohort for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) and to identify their clinical features in comparison with RA patients without ILD. Methods Using a multidisciplinary collaborative approach, a single-center cohort for RA patients with ILD (RA-ILD) was established in May 2017, and enrolment data from May 2017 to March 2021 were used to compare the clinical features of RA patients without ILD (RA-non ILD). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with ILD in RA patients. Results Among 148 RA-ILD and 410 RA-non ILD patients, participants in the RA-ILD group were older (65.8 ± 9.9 vs. 58.0 ± 10.4 years, P < 0.001) and included more males (35.8% vs. 14.6%, P  < 0.001) than in the RA-non ILD group. The RA-ILD group had a higher proportion of late-onset RA patients (age ≥ 60 years) than in the comparator group (43.9% vs. 14.2%, P  < 0.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that higher age at RA onset (OR 1.056, 95% CI 1.021–1.091), higher body mass index (BMI; OR 1.65, 95% CI 1.036–2.629), smoking history (OR 2.484, 95% CI 1.071–5.764), and oral glucocorticoid use (OR 3.562, 95% CI 2.160–5.874) were associated with ILD in RA patients, whereas methotrexate use was less likely to be associated with ILD (OR 0.253, 95% CI 0.155–0.412). Conclusions Higher age at RA onset, smoking history, and higher BMI were associated with the presence of ILD among RA patients. Oral glucocorticoids were more frequently used whereas methotrexate was less likely to be used in RA-ILD patients.