Influence of gender on disease activity in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis

ABSTRACT

To study the influence of gender on disease activity in patients of rheumatoid arthritis. One hundred patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis [RA], fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology [ACR] revised criteria 1987 and study's inclusion criteria were randomly selected for this study. The influence of gender on disease activity was measured in patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis by the help of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate [ESR], C- Reactive Proteins [CRP], Rheumatoid factor [RA factor] and Anti Cyclic Citrullinated Peptide [anti CCP] antibodies. Age and duration of illness in both genders were also compared to find statistically significant differences. The female to male ratio was 7.31. Mean age in males was 53 years and in female patients 43 years. Duration of illness was found to have no significant difference in male and female patients. A relative increase in ESR, CRP, RA factor and anti CCP antibodies was observed in the males when compared to females. The median value of ESR in males was 61 mm/hour and in females was 31 mm/hour. The median value of CRP was 31 rng/dl in males and 9.2 mg/dl in females. The median values of anti CCP antibodies were 100 U/ml for the male group and 4.7 U/ml for the female groups respectively. The differences in these parameters between the two groups were found to be statistically significant [p value <0.05]. The median values of RA factor was 43 IU/ml in males and 10 lU/ml in females and the difference was not statistically significant [p value .072]. The prevalence of RA in females is found to be high in this study. Male patients have a significantly later onset of RA and presented with severe disease as compared to female patients suffering from RA