2024 Volume 36 Issue 3 Pages 203-212
Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis（RA）is a systemic autoimmune disease that targets joint synovium, and when strong inflammation persists, it becomes a chronic wasting disease with systemic symptoms such as weight loss and anorexia. Therefore, we investigated the dietary habits, physique, physical functions, etc. in frail and pre-frail patients with RA and examined the relationships among them.
Patients and Methods: Dietary habits score, nutritional status, obesity degree, skeletal muscle mass, and bone density were measured in 71 patients with RA（average age 80.9 years, 14 males, 57 females）who admitted to our hospital to prevent progression of frailty. The correlation between each item was investigated.
Results: Controlling nutritional status（CONUT）, skeletal muscle mass index（SMI）, and bone mineral density % young adult mean（YAM）were outside the normal range in more than half of the patients. There was a weak negative correlation between dietary habits score and CONUT, a negative correlation between CONUT and body mass index（BMI）, and a weak negative correlation between CONUT and SMI in women. There was a weak positive correlation between %YAM and BMI, and a positive correlation between %YAM and SMI.
Conclusion: Good nutritional status is suggested to be important for frail and pre-frail patients with RA, and it seemed important to maintain a balanced diet. To prevent a decline in patients’ nutritional status, dietitians appeared to be necessary to support them regarding their diet.
