| Summary: | Introduction: Patients of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are prone to osteoporosis and overt fractures. Subclinical vertebral fractures (SVFs) precede overt vertebral fractures. We studied prevalence and risk factors of SVFs among women with RA. Aim: To determine the prevalence of SVFs in women with RA and to study the various risk factors associated with presence of SVFs. Settings and design: Adult patients of RA attending the rheumatology clinic of medicine department at a tertiary teaching hospital in Delhi. One hundred eleven adult women with RA were included. Clinical assessment included anthropometry, Body Mass Index (BMI), duration of RA, disease activity using Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI), disease disability using Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), and details of glucocorticoid (GC) use. Thoracic and lumbar vertebrae were graded for presence of VFs using the semi-quantitative method of Genant by two radiologists. Statistical analysis used: Simple descriptive statistics were used to describe prevalence of SVFs. Risk factors for SVFs were tested for significance using the Studentʼs t-test for quantitative variables and chi-square test for qualitative variables. Kappa statistics were calculated for assessment performed by the two radiologists. Two-sided alpha was set at <0.05. Results: Forty Nine percent women had SVFs; 40% had 1–3 SVFs, and 9% had >3 SVFs. Women with any SVF were significantly older as compared to women with no SVF. Fifty five percent of women using GCs had any SVF, while 44%, not using GC, had any SVF (P = ns). GC use, duration of RA, CDAI score, HAQ score, BMI, presence of RF, and anti-CCP were not different between women with and without SVFs. Kappa for inter-reader variability among the two radiologists was 0.98. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of very high prevalence of SVFs among women with RA. Traditional risk factors do not fully account for this enhanced risk.
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