Correlation between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and disease activity score using SDAI in established rheumatoid arthritis patients

• Published in: Revista română de reumatologie Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 105 - 109
• Main Authors: Rasool, Tabe, Siddiqui, Afshan, Salman, Salma, Parveen, Tahira, Ghuman, Faiza, Haseeb, Iqra
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 30.06.2024
• ISSN: 1843-0791; 2069-6086
• DOI: 10.37897/RJR.2024.2.10

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a multisystem inflammatory disorder predominantly affecting joint structures leading to joint erosions, destruction of cartilage and frank deformities if not treated. However disease not confined to joint but also involves other organ systems. Objective. To determine the correlation between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and disease activity score using SDAI in established rheumatoid arthritis patients. Material and methods. This was an observational cross-sectional study, done at the Rheumatology Clinic/Medicine OPD of DOW University Hospital. Patients with ages between 18 to 70 years old, of any gender, diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis according to American College of Rheumatology criteria were included. Data of all patients who met the inclusion criteria were recorded in predesigned questionnaire, after informed consent. Data were analyzed by calculating median and mode for quantitative variables, frequency and percentages for qualitative variables. Correlations were tested using Pearson correlation test. P values <0.05 were considered significant throughout the study. Outcome. The sample included 64 patients, seven males and 57 females. Mean age was 43.22±11.58. Fifty eight patients (90.6%) were sero-positives while six were negative (9.4%). The Pearson r for the correlation between NLR and SDAI was 0.105 and sig (2 tailed) value was 0.409. The Pearson r was close to 0, meaning a weak relationship between NLR and SDAI. Cross tabulation of NLR and SDAI of patients, using Chi Square yield, proved to have statistically insignificant results (p value = 0.181). Conclusion. The study results revealed a weak correlation between neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio and disease activity score using SDAI in established rheumatoid arthritis patients.