Comparative study on clinical features of male and female patients with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Objective To compare and analyze the different clinical features between male and female patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), by detecting the gender difference to make clinical decisions. Method The clinical features of 95 male RA patients(MRA) were analyzed and compared with those of 248 female RA patients (FRA) by retrospective analysis method. Results The mean onset age of MRA [18-79 (51.40±15.55) years old] was older than that of FRA[18-75(43.54 ±15.46) years old](P=0.0002). The morning stiffness time of MRA [(1.58 ±1.34) h] was shorter than that of FRA [(2.10 ±1.51) h](P = 0.0357). There was statistical difference in the first involved joint between MRA and FRA (P=0.0170), the prevalence of knee,metatarsonphalangeal joint,shoulder and ankle of MRA was higher than those of FRA, ' but conversely the wrist prevalence of FRA was higher than that of MRA.The prevalence of secondary Sj(o)gren syndrome of MRA(13.68%, 13/95) was rather lower than that of FRA(35.08%, 87/248)(P = 0.0007). MRA had lower positive rate of ANA (2.11% ,2/95) and lower value of IgM [(1.42 ±0.75) g/L] than FRA [(10.48% ,26/248), (1.69 ±0.86) g/L] (P 0.05). Conclusions MRA patients have older onset age and milder articular symptom than FRA patients. The disease severity of MRA is similar to that of FRA. Weighted joints are more involved in MRA. FRA is more inclined to have secondary Sj(o)gren syndrome. Key words: Arthritis, rheumatoid; Male; Female; Clinical features