The primary objective was to evaluate the association between weather variables and joint pain in patients with chronic rheumatic diseases (CRD: rheumatoid arthritis (RA), osteoarthritis (OA), and spondyloarthritis (SpA)). A secondary objective was to study the impact of air pollution indicators on CRD pain.
The study is prospective, correlational, with time-series analysis. Patients with CRD, living in a predefined catchment area, filled their level of pain daily using a 0-10 numerical scale (NS), for 1 year. Weather (temperature, relative humidity (H), atmospheric pressure (P)) and air pollution indicators (particulate matters (PM
The study included 94 patients, 82% reported they were weather-sensitive. Pain variation was similar across diseases over a year. Pain was associated negatively with temperature, H, and O
The perception of joint pain in patients with CRD was correlated with weather and air pollution. The strength of association was moderate and independent of underlying disease. Key Points •Weather variation was moderately correlated with joint pain in chronic rheumatic diseases, with an inverse association with temperature, humidity, and O