Baseline comorbidities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have been prescribed biological therapy: a case control study.

Aim: To determine whether rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who have been prescribed biological agents exhibit a different comorbidity burden than RA patients who take disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) alone, and to understand the association between comorbidity and other variables, as well as the association between comorbidity and multimorbidity.

Methods: This observational case-control study included 114 RA patients treated with biological agents and a control group comprising 163 sex- and age-matched RA patients treated with DMARDs only. Current and previous data regarding the patients' disease activity, comorbidities, and treatments were collected.

[Annual trends in knee and hip arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis 1998-2007].

Objective: To determine the annual number and trend of prostheses implanted in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at our hospital during the past decade.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective observational study. Patients were collected through an extensive search of the database of the Clinical Documentation Service between 1998 and 2007.