Page 33 - Fertility in Women with Rheumatoid Arthritis Vruchtbaarheid van vrouwen met reumatoïde artritis

Table 1 – Descriptive statistics of the study population
Variable
Age, years
Nulliparity, n (%)
Smoking, n (%)
Duration of RA, years
RF positive, n (%)
ACPA positive, n (%)
Erosions present, n (%)
MTX in the past, n (%)
Biologicals in the past†, n (%) Disease activity (DAS28) Preconceptional medication, n (%)
None
Sulfasalazine Prednisone Hydroxychloroquine Non-selective NSAIDs COX-2 inhibitors Biologicals†
Otherǂ
*Values are given as mean±SD, n (%) or median (25th–75th percentile).
Value*
31.3±3.9
143 (58%)
34 (14%) 2 3.6 (1.3–8.4)
180 (73%)
161 (66%)
122 (50%)
161 (66%)
37 (15%)
3.7±1.2
88 (36%) 79 (32%) 85 (35%) 15 (6%) 48 (20%) 12 (5%) 10 (4%) 20 (8%)
Fertility in RA – clinical factors
†Biologicals: etanercept, adalimumab, infliximab, anakinra.
ǂOther medications including gold, azathioprine and leflunomide.
ACPA, anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies; COX-2, cyclo-oxygenase-2; DAS28, 28-joint Disease Activity Score; MTX, methotrexate; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; RA, rheumatoid arthritis; RF, rheumatoid factor.
Overall, 67% of women in the high disease activity group (DAS28>5.1), 43% of women in the intermediate disease activity group (3.2<DAS28≤5.1), 37% of women in the low disease activity group (2.6<DAS28≤3.2) and 30% of women in remission (DAS28<2.6) were subfertile ( gure 2A).
In the subfertile group, age and DAS28 were signi cantly higher than in the fertile group (table 2). Subfertile patients were more frequently ACPA positive and used NSAIDs and prednisone more often.
The women who did not become pregnant at all (n=40) had a signi cantly higher DAS28 (4.14±1.3) than those who became pregnant (3.61±1.1; p=0.008).
RF positivity was more common in women who did not conceive (90%) than in those who did (70%; p=0.01). ACPA was positive in 80% of women who did not conceive compared to 63% of women who did get pregnant (p=0.05). Disease duration did not differ signi cantly: it was 4.4 (1.7–7.8) years in non-pregnant women and 3.4 (1.2–8.5) years in women who did get pregnant (p=0.76).
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