ArticleArthritis care & research2018
Obesity, Weight Loss, and Progression of Disability in Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Article in Arthritis care & research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of bariatric and metabolic surgery on rheumatoid arthritis outcomes: A systematic review.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Obesity is a risk factor for poor response to treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis: a NORD-STAR study.RMD open · 2024Trial
- Article
- Elevated Plasma Monounsaturated Fatty Acids and Their Associations with Disease Activity, Adiposity, and Sex in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Frailty carries an increased risk of death in rheumatoid arthritis.Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism · 2025Article
- Investigation of serum biomarkers in rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis patients for disease-specific signatures.Arthritis research & therapy · 2025Article
- Impact of Biologic Drugs on Comorbidity Outcomes in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Systematic Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Obesity and Its Comorbidities: Current Treatment Options, Emerging Biological Mechanisms, Future Perspectives and Challenges.Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy · 2025Review
- Prevalence of comorbidities among patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the UAE: a case-control study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Clinical and metagenomic characteristics of lymphadenopathy related to fever of unknown origin in children.Pediatric research · 2024Article
- Antibodies to Malondialdehyde-Acetaldehyde Adduct Are Associated With Prevalent and Incident Rheumatoid Arthritis-Associated Interstitial Lung Disease in US Veterans.Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2024Article
- Association Between the Quality of Life Domains with Anthropometric and Adiposity Indices in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Single Centre in Erbil-Iraq.Mediterranean journal of rheumatology · 2024Article
- Body mass index is associated with health-related quality of life and disease characteristics in young adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.Pediatric rheumatology online journal · 2024Article
- [Correlation analysis between body mass index and clinical characteristics of rheumatoid arthritis].Beijing da xue xue bao. Yi xue ban = Journal of Peking University. Health sciences · 2023Article
- [Impact of surgical treatment of morbid obesity on joint diseases].Problemy endokrinologii · 2023Review
- Is the relationship between deprivation and outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis mediated by body mass index? A longitudinal cohort study.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2023Observational
- Cause-Specific Mortality in Patients With Gout in the US Veterans Health Administration: A Matched Cohort Study.Arthritis care & research · 2023Article
- Elevations in adipocytokines and mortality in rheumatoid arthritis.Rheumatology (Oxford, England) · 2022Article
- Organokines in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Critical Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveCross-sectional studies have demonstrated that obese patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) often report greater disability. The longitudinal effects of obesity, however, are not well-characterized. We evaluated associations between obesity, weight loss, and worsening of disability in patients of 2 large registry studies, which included patients who were followed for longer periods of time.
methodsThis study included patients with RA from the National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases (FORWARD) (n = 23,323) and the Veterans Affairs RA (VARA) registry study (n = 1,697). Results of the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) or Multidimensional HAQ (MD-HAQ) were recorded through follow-up. Significant worsening of disability was defined as an increase of >0.2 in HAQ or MD-HAQ scores. The Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the risk of worsening of disability from baseline and to adjust for demographics, baseline disability, comorbidity, disease duration, and other disease features.
resultsAt enrollment, disability scores were higher among severely obese patients compared to those who were overweight both in FORWARD (β = 0.17 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.14, 0.20]; P < 0.001) and in the VARA registry (β = 0.17 [95% CI 0.074, 0.27]; P = 0.001). In multivariable models, patients who were severely obese at enrollment had a greater risk of progressive disability compared to overweight patients in FORWARD (HR 1.25 [95% CI 1.18, 1.33] P < 0.001) and in the VARA registry (HR 1.33 [95% CI 1.07, 1.66]; P = 0.01). Weight loss following enrollment was also associated with a greater risk in both cohorts. In the VARA registry, associations were independent of other clinical factors, including time-varying C-reactive protein and swollen joint count.
conclusionSevere obesity is associated with a more rapid progression of disability in RA. Weight loss is also associated with worsening disability, possibly due to it being an indication of chronic illness and the development of age-related or disease-related frailty.
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Registered trials
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