Correlation analysis of the rheumatoid arthritis and the meteorological factors / 中华风湿病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the relation between rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the meteorological factors.Methods All RA cases in the group were followed for 12 months,patients were follow-up for every two weeks.In each followed-up,all RA cases were evaluated by the disease activity score-28 (DAS28) and the improved Jamieson questionnaire,and the correlation of the DAS28 and the average values of meteorolo-gical factors (temperature,humidity,atmospheric pressure,relative humidity,wind speed) by Pearson correlation coefficient.The moderate-severe activity cases were evaluated by chi-square test of different seasons.Results One hundred and eighty-eight cases completed the observation,One hundred and sixty-four cases were in moderate disease activities (x2=9.42,P=0.022).Sixty-eight cases were distributed in winter,which was significantly higher than other three seasons.The average temperature and wind speed was negatively related to the DAS28 (r=-0.743,P＜0.01; r=-0.576,P=0.003).Conclusion The activity of RA has the characteristics of seasonal changes,and is easily being aggravated in winter.Many factors may influence RA,including temperature and wind speed.Creating an appropriate micro-climate environment is beneficial for RA patients to reduce the disease activity.