Abstract
This study used data from a large-scale multicenter medical information database in Japan to estimate the incidence rate of herpes zoster (HZ) and to examine the relationship between hypertension, dyslipidemia, and diabetes mellitus (DM), and the risk of HZ among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The research dataset consisted of 221,196 records of potential target patients with RA extracted between April 1, 2008 and August 31, 2017 from the Medical Data Vision database. To assess the association between hypertension, dyslipidemia, and DM and the risk of HZ, a case–control study was set up. Records of 101,498 study subjects met the inclusion criteria. During the observation period, 2566 patients developed HZ and the overall incidence rate was 5.2 (95% confidence interval: 5.0–5.4 per 1000 patient-years). Hypertension, dyslipidemia, and DM were significantly associated with an increased risk of HZ after adjustment for sex, age, hospital size, and use of anti-rheumatic drugs. When mutual adjustment was made for hypertension, dyslipidemia, and DM, the positive associations between hypertension and dyslipidemia and the risk of HZ remained significant; however, the positive association with DM completely disappeared. RA patients with hypertension or dyslipidemia may be at higher risk of HZ.
Highlights
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases and an autoimmune disease that affects the synovial joints [1]
In this study using a large-scale multicenter medical information database in Japan, the incidence rate of Herpes zoster (HZ) in patients with RA was 5.2 per 1000 person-years, which was lower than those reported in previous studies in RA patients [6, 21, 23]
A large observational cohort of Japanese RA patients reported that the incidence of HZ was 12.1 per 1000 person-years between 2005 and 2010 [21]
Summary
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most prevalent chronic inflammatory diseases and an autoimmune disease that affects the synovial joints [1]. In Japan, the incidence rate was 0.08 per 1000 person-years between 1985 and 1996 [2]. The prevalence apparently declined between 1965 and 1996 (2.4 to 1.7 per 1000 persons) [2]. The etiology of RA is still unclear, it is accepted as a multifactorial disease. Their interactions, might contribute to the development and expression of the disease [3]. In a previous study using a large US database and UK database, the risk of HZ was increased twofold in patients with RA compared with patients without RA [6].
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