J Korean Geriatr Soc.  2010 Dec;14(4):227-233.

Clinical Characteristics of Elderly Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Kim HO
• Yoon HS
• Kwok SK
• Ju JH
• Park KS
• Park SH
• Kim HY

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis (EORA) affects people older than 60 years of age and is different from younger onset rheumatoid arthritis (YORA) in several aspects. EORA is seen in each sex equally, has more large joint involvement and is associated with a higher erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR). In this study, we compared the clinical and laboratory data of these two conditions.
METHODS
Our subjects included 230 patients meeting the American College of Rheumatology criteria for rheumatoid arthritis. We compared the clinical manifestation, medication history and laboratory data including rheumatoid factor, anti-nuclear antibody, ESR, C-reactive protein and total sharp score of EORA and YORA.
RESULTS
The male to female ratio was 1:2.5 in EORA and 1:5.6 in YORA (p=0.016). The mean age was 74+/-5.3 years in EORA and 47+/-8.9 years in YORA. ESR was higher for EORA (52.8+/-35.6 mm/hr) than for YORA (40.2+/-29.2 mm/hr) (p=0.004). A positive RF was seen more often in EORA (75%) than in YORA (67%) (p=0.027). Shoulder joint pain was more common in EORA (41.0%) than in YORA (21.6%) (p=0.001) as was knee joint pain, 77.1% and 48.8%(p<0.001), respectively.
CONCLUSION
EORA showed a relatively higher incidence in males and had more large joint involvement than YORA. The higher abnormal values of ESR and rheumatoid factor seen in EORA might be associated with poor prognosis.

Keyword

Elderly onset rheumatoid arthritis; Younger onset rheumatoid arthritis; Rheumatoid arthritis

MeSH Terms

Aged
Arthritis, Rheumatoid
Blood Sedimentation
C-Reactive Protein
Female
Humans
Incidence
Joints
Knee Joint
Male
Prognosis
Rheumatoid Factor
Rheumatology
Shoulder Joint
C-Reactive Protein
Rheumatoid Factor