Mortality in Rheumatoid Arthritis, Particularly as Regards Drug Use

Abstract

239 persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), previously investigated in an epidemiological survey of RA in Stockholm, were monitored for 13 years with the aim of eliciting the cause(s) of the high mortality among persons with RA. All hospitalizations were identified through the in-patient register of Stockholm County. A study based on medical record information was performed on a group of 157 persons who had been hospitalized during the follow-up. Dead and surviving persons were compared with regard to characteristics at the start of the follow-up, drug use, and diseases other than RA during the follow-up. Male sex and high Steinbrocker functional grading were the factors most closely associated with an increased death risk. Neither drug use generally, nor use of any particular type of drug, significantly increased the death risk. We conclude that, although drug use may be a contributory cause, the disease RA in itself—and particularly its severe forms—is the main cause of the high mortality among RA sufferers.