The characteristics of laboratory findings and multimorbidities in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis / 中华老年医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the characteristics of laboratory test results and multimorbidities in elderly patients with rheumatoid arthritis(RA)and thus to provide a basis for the treatment of RA in the elderly.Methods:Retrospective analysis was performed on RA patients admitted to the Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University from March 2018 to December 2020.Patients were divided into an elderly RA(ERA)group(≥60 years)and a non-elderly RA(NERA)group(<60 years).The prevalences of multimorbidities and laboratory results were compared between the two groups, and influencing factors of multimorbidities in ERA patients were analyzed by using binary Logistic regression.Results:There were 215 patients in this cohort, of whom 156 patients were in the ERA group and 59 patients were in the NERA group.The prevalences of comorbid hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease(CHD)and interstitial lung disease in the ERA group were higher than those in the NERA group( χ2=19.890, 6.977, 5.964, 7.484, all P<0.05).The disease duration in the ERA group was longer than that in the NERA group[117.5(36.0, 240.0)months vs.72.0(10.5, 123.5)months, Z=3.142, P=0.002], and the levels of serum C-reactive protein(CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR), urea, creatinine and cystatin C were higher than those in NERA group[9.7(3.2, 24.8)mg/L vs.3.1(3.0, 8.3)mg/L, 31.0(13.0, 53.3)mm/h vs.17.0(11.0, 31.5)mm/h, (5.38±1.54)mmol/L vs.(4.75±1.46)mmol/L, (63.82±15.33)μmol/L vs.(57.31±11.38)μmol/L, (1.23±0.42)mg/L vs.(0.90±0.23)mg/L]( Z=4.275, 2.770, t=2.714, 2.966, 5.714, all P<0.05).The levels of serum magnesium, albumin and hemoglobin were lower than those in the NERA group[(0.84±0.08)mmol/L vs.(0.86±0.06)mmol/L, (37.46±5.32)g/L vs.(40.77±4.95)g/L, (114.52±18.06)g/L vs.(124.32±16.40)g/L]( t=2.653, 4.147, 3.648, all P<0.05).Correlation analysis showed that the level of serum CRP in the ERA group was negatively correlated with serum albumin and magnesium( r=-0.449, -0.329, all P<0.05).Uric acid was positively correlated with rheumatoid factor(RF), cystatin C, urea, age and disease duration( r=0.259, 0.416, 0.210, 0.232, 0.179, all P<0.05), but negatively correlated with hemoglobin and magnesium( r=-0.262, -0.207, all P<0.05).RF was positively correlated with uric acid, urea, total cholesterol, low density lipoprotein, the 28-joint Disease Activity Score(DAS28 score), age and disease duration( r=0.259, 0.177, 0.205, 0.234, 0.248, 0.225, 0.211, all P<0.05), but negatively correlated with albumin and hemoglobin( r=-0.301, -0.182, all P<0.05).Serum magnesium was negatively correlated with CRP, ESR, urea, uric acid and cystatin C( r=-0.273, -0.192, -0.175, -0.207, -0.315, all P<0.05).These correlations were not found in the NERA group.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that factors affecting hypertension in ERA patients were age, RF and albumin.Influencing factors of CHD were age, disease duration, serum magnesium and triglycerides.Factors that affect interstitial lung disease were RF, DAS28 score and albumin. Conclusions:Compared with NERA patients, ERA patients show an elevated level of systemic inflammation and poorer nutrition assessed by relevant parameters.CRP, RF and uric acid have complex correlations with serum magnesium, hemoglobin, and albumin.ERA patients have higher prevalences of multimorbidities.Age, disease duration, RF, triglycerides, DAS28 score, serum magnesium and albumin affect the occurrence of multimorbidities in ERA patients.