Prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune, chronic and multisystem disorder. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the prognosis of COVID-19 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 241 rheumatoid arthritis patients with covid-19 who had referred to medical centers in Kashan and Tabriz cities, Iran, in 2021. Rheumatoid arthritis disease activity score was measured based on the DAS28-ESR system. The prognosis of Covid-19 was calculated based on the CALL scoring system.

The mean age of the patients was 53.06±13.37 years and 82.2% were women. Based on the disease activity score, most patients (61.8%) were in the remission phase at the time of Covid-19 diagnosis. The underlying diseases of diabetes and hypertension and DAS28 score had a significant relationship with the prognosis of patients (P<0.05). Moreover, 92% of patients who were in the active phase of rheumatoid arthritis at the time of Covid-19 diagnosis had a poor prognosis, this percentage was significantly lower in patients who were in other phases of the rheumatoid arthritis disease (P<0.001).

The results of the present study show that the prognosis of COVID-19 in rheumatoid arthritis patients with severe activity was worse than those whose disease was inactive or had mild or moderate activity.