ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To document the clinical characteristics of Korean male patients with rheumatoid arthritis that are different from those of female counterparts. METHODS: Six hundred and seventy-five patients who had met the ACR criteria for rheumatoid arthritis were included in the study. Clinical and laboratory data were retrospectively reviewed and radiologic features of hands and feet were graded by Steinbroker's method. RESULTS: The female : male ratio in the total patients studied is 567 : 108 (5.25). The symptom onset age was 39.5 +/- 11.8 in woman and 44.0 +/- 11.3 in men. The functional class at the time of diagnosis and the incidence of anemia showed little significant difference. Among the extraarticular manifestations, only interstitial lung disease was more common in males. There were significant differences between both sexes on positivity of antiperinuclear factor, C-reactive protein, and titer of rheumatoid factor in the seropositive groups, but not on rheumatoid factor positivity. Radiologically there was no significant difference in the hands and feet joints between males and females. Higher dosage of steroid was initially prescribed for male patients. CONCLUSIONS: The males seem to have slightly more active disease and to show significant differences in antiperinuclear factor positivity, the titer of rheumatoid factor and C-reactive protein, and lung involvement. However, we failed to demonstrate that the disease in males was more severe than compared to that of their female counterparts.