Increased cardiovascular disease in patients with inflammatory arthritis in primary care: a cross-sectional observation.

Objective: To compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in patients with inflammatory arthritis and control subjects registered in primary care.

Methods: Conditional logistic regression analyses were used to compare the CVD prevalence in patients and controls, aged 50-75 years.

Results: Overall, the CVD prevalence was 66.1 per 1000 patients in inflammatory arthritis and 37.3 per 1000 patients in controls, resulting in an odds ratio of 1.83 (95% confidence interval 1.33-2.51).

Conclusion: Inflammatory arthritis patients registered in primary care are associated with an increased cardiovascular burden, which emphasizes the need for cardiovascular risk management in the primary care setting.