Abstract :
Byline: Delia Reina, IDIBELL-Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge; Carmen Gomez-Vaquero, IDIBELL-Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge; Cesar Diaz-Torne, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Barcelona, Spain.; Joan Miquel Nolla Sole, IDIBELL-Hospital Universitari de Bellvitge; Abstract Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been related to an impairment of the nutritional status. Body mass index (BMI) has been used but questions arise about how to properly evaluate nutritional status in RA patients. Few studies have evaluated it by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry.In women with RA, to analyze:Case-control study including 89 women with RA. The control group was composed by 100 patients affected by non-inflammatory rheumatic disorders. Study variables included age, RA duration, history, activity and disability, and in relation to nutritional status: BMI, serum albumin (ALB), whole body DXA assessment, and skeletal muscle index (SMI).Mean age of patients was 62 [+ or -] 8 years, mean duration of RA was 14 [+ or -] 9 years, mean disease activity score (DAS28) was 3.7 [+ or -] 1.4 and mean Health Assessment Questionnaire was 0.88 [+ or -] 0.77. BMI was 27.43 [+ or -] 5.16 Kg/m in patients and 27.78 [+ or -] 3.98 Kg/m in controls (P: ns). ALB was within normal range in all patients.By whole body DXA, RA patients presented a statistically significant lower lean mass in all locations and lower fat mass in limbs than controls. Patients had a redistribution of fat mass to trunk. Lean mass directly correlated with fat mass.Neither BMI nor ALB correlated with DXA parameters.BMI, appendicular lean mass and SMI correlated inversely with disease duration. Trunk lean mass correlated inversely, and fat mass directly, with RA disability parameters.RA patients fulfilled criteria of sarcopenia in 44% of cases versus 19% of controls (P