To evaluate the effectiveness of an intervention on cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
After determining their CVRF and cardiovascular risk (CVR) by modified SCORE, we gave the patients a letter for their general practitioners in which they were requested for their cooperation in controlling CVRF and where the therapeutic goal for LDL cholesterol was specified. Three months later, any therapeutic intervention was recorded as well as the results.
We included 211 patients, 29% with a high CVR. There were new diagnoses of CVRF in 100 patients (47%). The general practitioner changed the treatment in 2/12 diabetes, 30/84 HBP, 74/167 with elevation of LDL cholesterol and 21/51 with hypertriglyceridemia. The percentage of patients with good control over CVRF was: a) in HBP, 25 to 73%; b) elevation of LDL cholesterol from 10 to 17%; and c) in hypertriglyceridemia, 25 to 38%.
Through this intervention, a new CVRF was diagnosed in nearly half of the patients. The effectiveness of the intervention on CVRF was low.