Malnutrition as a Risk Factor for Severe Infectious Complications in Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Published in: Clinical Rheumatology and Related Research Vol. 33; no. 2; pp. 121 - 131
• Main Authors: Harada, Yoshinori, Hashimoto, Jun, Yoshida, Yuji, Isoda, Kentaro, Yoshimura, Maiko, Okita, Yasutaka, Tsuji, Shigeyoshi, Ohshima, Shiro, Matsuoka, Hidetoshi, Murakami, Teruaki, Saeki, Yukihiko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Japanese
• Published: The Japanese Society for Clinical Rheumatology and Related Research 2021; 一般社団法人 日本臨床リウマチ学会
• Subjects: infection; malnutrition; nutrition; rheumatoid arthritis
• ISSN: 0914-8760; 2189-0595
• DOI: 10.14961/cra.33.121

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of nutritional status on infectious complications in patients with rheumatoid arthritis（RA）.Methods: Study participants included patients with RA complicated with severe infection requiring hospitalization（infectious hospitalization group）and patients without severe infections（control group）. The characteristics, clinical findings, treatment details as well as nutritional status assessed using the prognostic nutritional index（PNI）and controlling nutritional status（CONUT）of the patients were compared between the groups.Results: PNI and CONUT were significantly lower in the infectious hospitalization group（P < 0.001 for both）, and low PNI was identified as a predictor of severe infections（odds ratio: 1.749, 95% confidence interval: 1.110‒2.755, P < 0.001）.Conclusions: It is essential to evaluate and manage the nutritional status of patients for appropriate and safe treatment of RA.