Author(s)

Madeleine Singwe-Ngandeu^1,2, Mickael Essouma¹, Vicky Jocelyne Ama Moor^1,3, Ahmadou Jingi Musa¹, Alain Patrick Menanga^1,4, Caroline Ngoufack², Sandrine Sa’a Lontsi², Thierry Ntandzi², Yolande Vanessa Ayi Efoua², Mireille Cathy Melong Pianta¹

¹Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Yaoundé I, Yaounde, Cameroon.
²Rheumatology Unit, Yaounde Central Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon.
³Biochemistry Laboratory, Yaounde University Teaching Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroun.
⁴Cardiology Unit, Yaounde General Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon.

Introduction: Studies on RA (rheumatoid arthritis) and cardiovascular risk in African countries are scarce. Objective: To investigate the relationship between RA and cardiovascular risk in Cameroonian patients. Methodology: In 50 Black RA patients and 51 matched healthy individuals from the general population, we studied cardiovascular risk factors validated by the WHO. Cardiovascular risks estimates were carried out using WHO risk charts for the African region. Epi-info, R and SPPS were used for the statistical analysis. Results: Overall and abdominal adiposity as expressed by increased body mass index and abdominal obesity, were all markedly increased in RA patients compared to non-RA subjects [70% vs. 47%, OR (95% CI) = 2.62 (1.16 - 5.94), p = 0.026; and 54% vs. 33%, OR (95% CI) = 2.34 (1.05 - 5.25), p = 0.045 respectively]. RA patients were more physically inactive than their non-RA counterparts (20% vs. 0, p = 0.001). Whereas RA was associated with a reduced odds of alcoholism [OR (95% CI) = 0.19 (0.06 - 0.62), p = 0.005]. Increased BMI seemed to occur independently of methotrexate (p = 0.76), hydroxychloroquine (p = 0.59), corticosteroids (p = 0.79) treatments, and independently of sex (p = 0.15), age (p = 0.67), and sedentary lifestyle (p = 0.16) in RA patients; but their BMI was weakly correlated with disease duration (r = 0.26; p = 0.074). Meanwhile, male gender was associated with a reduced odds of abdominal obesity [OR (95% CI) = 0.02 (0 - 0.4), p = 0.011]. Cardiovascular risk, comparable by proportions between RA and non-RA subjects, was low in 26 patients (78.8%) and 30 non-RA subjects (83.3%) respectively. Conclusion: Despite the high adiposity burden and a sedentary lifestyle experienced by RA patients compared to their healthy counterparts, RA was not associated with cardiovascular risk as estimated by WHO risk charts.

Rheumatoid Arthritis, Excess Adiposity, Physical Inactivity, Cardiovascular Risk, World Health Organization Risk Charts

Singwe-Ngandeu, M. , Essouma, M. , Ama Moor, V. , Musa, A. , Menanga, A. , Ngoufack, C. , Lontsi, S. , Ntandzi, T. , Ayi Efoua, Y. and Melong Pianta, M. (2016) Cardiovascular Risk Burden in Sub-Saharan Africans with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Hospital-Based Study in Yaounde, Cameroon. Open Journal of Rheumatology and Autoimmune Diseases, 6, 1-9. doi: 10.4236/ojra.2016.61001.