Abstract
We investigated the proportion of smokers in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). 115 patients with RA and 59 of patients with osteoarthritis (OA) were recruited to this study. All patients were interviewed on their smoking history. A smoker was defined as a person who smoked at least one cigarette a day and an ex-smoker as a person who had stopped smoking for at least six months at the onset of RA. Patients with RA were diagnosed according to the 1987 ACR criteria, and we examined rheumatoid factor, blood count, CRP and ESR. 15 cases (65.2%) among 23 male patients and 11 cases (17.4%) among 92 female patients with RA were smokers. The proportion of smokers was higher than that of the general population. In the patients with RA, the examination of rheumatoid factor showed a significantly higher titer in the male smokers than in the male non-smokers. Men who are current smokers have an increased risk of developing seropositive RA.
