Women with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or systemic sclerosis were more than twice as likely to suffer a cardiovascular disease-related death compared to men with the same conditions between 1999 and 2020, according to a study published May 5 in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes.
“There is a common perception that people with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases primarily die from infections or kidney disease,” Issam Motairek, MD, an internal medicine resident at Cleveland Clinic and the lead study author, said in a May 6 news release from the American Heart Association. “Our study revealed that one-third of deaths in this population were due to cardiovascular disease, highlighting the significant burden of heart disease in these patients.”
Here a five notes on the study:
- Researchers examined data from the CDC’s Wide-ranging Online Data for Epidemiologic Research database between 1999 and 2020 for the study.
Of the 281,355 deaths among adults with rheumatoid arthritis, lupus or systemic sclerosis in the U.S. during the study period, 127,149 were related to cardiovascular disease. - Though the overall cardiovascular disease-related death rate among adults with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases has declined, women maintained a higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease during the study period.
Between 1999 and 2020, the overall cardiovascular disease-related death rate among adults with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases dropped from 3.9 to 2.1 per 100,000 for women and 1.7 to 1.2 per 100,000 for men.
- Women with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases died from both stroke and coronary artery disease at a higher rate and were more than two times more likely to die from irregular heart rhythm or cardiac arrest compared to men with the same conditions.
- Women with rheumatoid arthritis had a three-times higher cardiovascular disease-related death rate at 1.8 deaths per 100,000, compared to 0.6 per 100,000 for men.
Women with lupus had a two-times higher cardiovascular disease-related death rate at 0.2 per 100,000, compared to 0.1 per 100,000 in men. - “This study reinforces the need to investigate drivers of these disparities between women and men and how to improve treatment for patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases,” Dr. Motairek said.
Read the full study here.
