RA Increases the Risk of COPD in Women

Women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a higher risk of developing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), according to the results of a recent study.

In order to examine whether RA could be linked to COPD or asthma, independent of lifestyle factors before and after RA diagnosis, researchers conducted a study of data from the Nurses’ Health Study. They identified 843 women with RA and matched them to 8399 comparators without RA, excluding women with COPD or asthma at baseline.

Overall, 68 cases of COPD and 40 cases of asthma were identified among women with RA, and 459 cases of COPD and 268 cases of asthma were identified among the comparators.

RA was associated with an increased risk of COPD (hazard ratio [HR] 1.52) and asthma (HR 1.55) compared with comparators. Following further adjustment, RA was significantly associated with COPD (HR 1.68) but not with asthma (HR 1.11) compared with comparators.

“In this prospective cohort study, RA was associated with increased risk for incident COPD, independent of lifestyle confounders and mediators after diagnosis, including smoking,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Sparks JA, Lin T, Camargo CA, et al. Rheumatoid arthritis and risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma among women: A marginal structural model analysis in the Nurses’ Health Study [published online September 15, 2017]