Study: Rheumatoid Arthritis May Increase Risk of Death for Some Older Women

Rheumatoid arthritis appears to increase the risk of death for some older women, according to U.S. researchers.

Researchers conducted a study to determine whether rheumatoid arthritis is associated with an excess rate of death among older women.

Death rates from rheumatoid arthritis were examined in a study begun in 1986 that included 31,336 women, ages 55 to 69, without a history of rheumatoid arthritis at the study's start. Up to 1997, 158 cases of rheumatoid arthritis were identified and validated against medical records.

Compared with healthy women, women developing rheumatoid arthritis during the follow up period had a significantly higher rate of death. Mortality was higher among patients who tested positive for rheumatoid factor, an antibody found in the blood of most rheumatoid arthritis patients, than among those who tested negative.

There was evidence that women with rheumatoid arthritis were more likely to die from infection or circulatory disease but not from cancer, according to the report in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

"Rheumatoid arthritis was associated with significantly increased mortality in a cohort of older women, and the association appeared to be restricted to those with rheumatoid factor positive disease," concluded the researchers.

Other sources: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases