Cardiovascular risk factors in patients with spondyloarthritis from Northern European and Mediterranean countries: An ancillary study of the ASAS-COMOSPA project

Joint Bone Spine. 2018 Jul;85(4):447-453. doi: 10.1016/j.jbspin.2017.07.006. Epub 2017 Jul 25.

Abstract

Objectives: The objectives of this study were: (1) to compare the prevalence of cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors among different phenotypes of spondyloarthritis (SpA); (2) to assess the differences in cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors between two geographical areas, i.e. Northern Europe vs. Mediterranean region; (3) to identify potential predictive factors for high Framingham Risk Score regarding disease features in SpA and geographical area.

Methods: Ancillary analysis of the international, multicentric, observational, cross-sectional ASAS-COMOSPA study. Cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular risk factors were compared depending on SpA phenotype and geographical regions. Potential factors associated with higher cardiovascular risk (i.e. Framingham Risk Score) were determined by a multiple logistic regression.

Results: The most frequent cardiovascular risk factor and cardiovascular disease were smoking (31.2%) and ischemic heart disease (3.2%), respectively. Regarding SpA phenotype, axial SpA patients showed significantly lower prevalence (P<0.05) of hypertension (19.2% vs. 33.8% vs. 26.6% for axial, peripheral and mixed phenotypes, respectively), type 2 diabetes mellitus (4.3% vs. 8.5% vs. 7.4%), dyslipidemia (13.9% vs. 28.4% vs. 15.2%) and ischemic heart disease (2.4% vs. 7.0% vs. 3.2%). Regarding geographical area, a higher frequency of hypertension (34.7% vs. 19.4%,), dyslipidemia (19.3% vs. 14.4%), obesity (29.3% vs. 20.7%) and ischemic heart disease (6.2% vs. 1.8%) was observed for Northern Europe vs. Mediterranean Region, respectively.

Conclusions: Our results suggest that SpA phenotype and geographical area are associated with the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors and the cardiovascular risk itself, observed in patients in the ASAS-COMOSPA cohort.

Keywords: Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular risk factors; Sociodemographic characteristics; Spondyloarthritis.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Multicenter Study
  • Observational Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Age Distribution
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / diagnosis*
  • Cardiovascular Diseases / epidemiology*
  • Comorbidity
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Dyslipidemias / epidemiology
  • Europe
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Hypertension / epidemiology
  • Information Systems
  • Internationality
  • Male
  • Mediterranean Region
  • Middle Aged
  • Myocardial Ischemia / epidemiology
  • Obesity / epidemiology
  • Prevalence
  • Prognosis
  • Risk Assessment
  • Severity of Illness Index
  • Sex Distribution
  • Smoking / epidemiology
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Spondylarthritis / diagnosis*
  • Spondylarthritis / epidemiology*