Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37434169›Full record

SynthesisBMC pulmonary medicine2023

Incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of acute exacerbation of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Maosheng Xie, Chao Zhu, Yujin Ye

Open access · goldAbstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC pulmonary medicine, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
21citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.5field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

21 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Prevalence and Prognostic Impact of Progressive Pulmonary Fibrosis.Tuberculosis and respiratory diseases · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Observational
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Initiation of antifibrotic treatment in fibrosing interstitial lung disease: is the clock ticking till proven progression?European respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2025
    Review
  8. Article
  9. Observational
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Maosheng Xie *Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Chao Zhu *Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Yujin YeDepartment of Rheumatology and Immunology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. yeyujin@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
Sun Yat-sen University · CN

Funding

Guangzhou Municipal Science and Technology Project 201903010092
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionAcute exacerbation (AE) is a devastating complication of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) and leads to high mortality. This study aimed to investigate the incidence, risk factors, and prognosis of acute exacerbation of rheumatoid arthritis-associated interstitial lung disease (AE-RA-ILD).

methodsPubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Medline were searched through 8 February 2023. Two independent researchers selected eligible articles and extracted available data. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was used to assess the methodological quality of studies used for meta-analysis. The incidence and prognosis of AE-RA-ILD were investigated. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) and pooled odds ratios (ORs) with 95% CIs were calculated to explore the risk factors of AE in RA-ILD.

resultsTwenty-one of 1,589 articles were eligible. A total of 385 patients with AE-RA-ILD, of whom 53.5% were male, were included. The frequency of AE in patients with RA-ILD ranged from 6.3 to 55.6%. The 1-year and 5-year AE incidences were 2.6-11.1% and 11-29.4%, respectively. The all-cause mortality rate of AE-RA-ILD was 12.6-27.9% at 30 days and 16.7-48.3% at 90 days. Age at RA diagnosis (WMD: 3.61, 95% CI: 0.22-7.01), male sex (OR: 1.60, 95% CI:1.16-2.21), smoking (OR: 1.50, 95% CI: 1.08-2.08), lower forced vital capacity predicted (FVC%; WMD: -8.63, 95% CI: -14.68 to - 2.58), and definite usual interstitial pneumonia (UIP) pattern (OR: 1.92, 95% CI: 1.15-3.22) were the risk factors of AE-RA-ILD. Moreover, the use of corticosteroids, methotrexate, and biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, was not associated with AE-RA-ILD.

conclusionAE-RA-ILD was not rare and had a poor prognosis. Age at RA diagnosis, male sex, smoking, lower FVC%, and definite UIP pattern increased the risk of AE-RA-ILD. The use of medications, especially methotrexate and biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs, may not be related to AE-RA-ILD. REGISTRATION: CRD42023396772.

Indexed as

Antirheumatic AgentsArthritis, RheumatoidIdiopathic Pulmonary FibrosisLung Diseases, InterstitialFemaleHumansIncidenceMaleMethotrexatePrognosisRisk FactorsAntirheumatic AgentsMethotrexateAcute exacerbationInterstitial lung diseaseMeta-analysisRheumatoid arthritis

Identifiers

PMID37434169
PMCPMC10337154
OpenAlexW4383878965

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.