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Comparison of comorbidities of the Egyptian rheumatoid arthritis patients to the global cohort of the COMORA study: a post-hoc analysis

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Abstract

The aims of this study are to present the results of Egyptian RA patients included in COMORA cohort and compare it to general COMORA cohort, concerning prevalence of comorbidities, and level of application of recommendations related to detection/prevention of comorbidities. Three-hundred eight Egyptian RA patients included in the cross-sectional, observational, multi-center, international study “COMORA”, were compared to the total number of 3612 RA patients. The CRF of COMORA was used in all patients. CRF collects demographic and disease characteristics, comorbidities, risk factors, and compliance with recommendations regarding management of comorbidities. Data were analyzed according to COMORA protocol. Egyptian RA patients were significantly younger, had more active disease, and were more functionally disabled. They showed more frequent use of NSAIDs, methotrexate and steroids and significantly lower use of bDMARDs when compared to non-Egyptians. Egyptian patients had the highest ever HCV prevalence, while depression, hypertension, smoking and dyslipidemia were less prevalent in Egyptians. Prevalence of malignancy risk factors was highly deficient among Egyptians; primarily due to lack of screening. Further, following recommendations for monitoring comorbidities is significantly deficient among Egyptian patients. Egyptian patients had more active disease and more functional impairment than the rest of the COMORA cohort; with lower use of bDMARDs, that is possibly related to the economic situation. Also, there is a clear gap in screening and monitoring comorbidities. Awareness among Egyptian healthcare providers (and possibly similar third-world countries) to detect and manage RA-related comorbidities is required.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the national principal investigators of the COMORA study: Gustavo Casado (Argentina), Josef Smolen (Austria), Bassel Kamal El-Zorkany (Egypt), Martin Soubrier (France), Gerd Burmester (Germany), Peter Balint (Hungary), Carlo Maurizio Montecucco (Italy), Masayoshi Harigai (Japan), Yeong-Wook Song (Korea), Najia Hajjaj-Hassouni (Morocco), Mart van de Laar (the Netherlands), Emilio Martin-Mola (Spain), Shue-Fen Luo (Taiwan), Jonathan Kay and Kevin Winthrop (USA), Gabriel Maciel (Uruguay), Anna Antunez (Venezuela); the scientific committee of COMORA study: Maxime Dougados, Peter Balint, Gerd Burmester, Paul Emery, Jonathan Kay, Emilio Martin-Mola, Iain McInnes, Carlo Maurizio Montecucco, Josef Smolen, and patients who agreed to participate in this study. Also, thanks to an unrestricted grant from Roche that supported study conduction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rheumatology Department, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

    Bassel El-Zorkany, Abir Mokbel, Sherif M. Gamal & Maha Mousa

  2. Gynecology and Obstetrics Department, Faculty of Medicine, and M.Sc. Statistics, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

    Mohamed Youssef

  3. Faculty of Medicine, Laboratory of Clinical Research and Epidemiology, Rheumatology Department, Mohammed V University, El Ayachi Hospital, Rabat, Morocco

    Ihsane Hmamouchi

Authors
  1. Bassel El-Zorkany
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  2. Abir Mokbel
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  3. Sherif M. Gamal
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  4. Maha Mousa
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  5. Mohamed Youssef
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  6. Ihsane Hmamouchi
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Correspondence to Sherif M. Gamal.

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This study was conducted with the support of an unrestricted grant from Roche Ltd.

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El-Zorkany, B., Mokbel, A., Gamal, S.M. et al. Comparison of comorbidities of the Egyptian rheumatoid arthritis patients to the global cohort of the COMORA study: a post-hoc analysis. Clin Rheumatol 35, 1153–1159 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-015-3142-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10067-015-3142-4

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