To determine the risk and causes of death in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients in Madrid.
A longitudinal survival analysis was made. 182 RA patients of the rheumatology clinic of a tertiary care hospital were studied. 42 (23%) males and 140 (77%) females. All were followed-up for a 9-year period or to the date of death. Kaplan-Meier survival curves for both male and female cohorts were performed. The logrank test was used to compare both distributions and to determine the statistical significance.
The mortality rate for the RA patient cohort was 15.4 deaths/1000 person-years (10.2/1000 for the female and 34.2/1000 for the male cohorts). The mortality rate ratio was 3.3. The logrank test showed a statistical difference (p=0.0023). The standardized mortality ratio was 1.85 for RA patients. The causes of death were: cardiovascular diseases 5 (21%), infections 5 (21%). amyloidosis 4 (17%), malignant diseases 2 (8%).
Mortality is nearly two times higher in our population of RA patients. Male patients have a much lower survival probability than females. Cardiovascular diseases, infections and amyloidosis were the most common causes of death.