Research from Weill Cornell Medicine in the Area of Rheumatoid Arthritis Described (Comparing cardiovascular risk of patients with rheumatoid arthritis within the Social Security Disability Insurance with those commercially insured): Autoimmune Diseases and Conditions – Rheumatoid Arthritis

2022 SEP 08 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Research findings on rheumatoid arthritis are discussed in a new report. According to news originating from the Weill Cornell Medicine by NewsRx editors, the research stated, “To compare cardiovascular disease (CVD) rates in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) beneficiaries of the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) with commercially insured RA patients. We created three cohorts of RA patients aged < 65 years for SSDI and three for Marketscan using claims data from 2006 to 2016.”

Funders for this research include National Institute of Arthritis And Musculoskeletal And Skin Diseases.

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Weill Cornell Medicine: “The cohort definitions were as follows: (1) cohort 1: 2 diagnosis codes for RA occurring 7-365 days apart with 1 diagnosis code from a rheumatologist; (2) cohort 2: 1 diagnosis code for RA from a rheumatologist and a disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDS); and (3) cohort 3: cohort 2, plus initiation of a new biologic/tofacitinib. We used Cox regression to determine the CVD risk comparing SSDI vs. Marketscan. Models were sequentially adjusted for age and sex (model 1); model 1 + diabetes, smoking, and high CVD risk (model 2); and model 2 + dual eligible (Medicare and Medicaid), subsidy, and state buy in (model 3). There were 380,336 RA patients, mean age 53.3 (SD 8.1) years, 21-24% male. Prevalence of comorbidities was higher in SSDI vs. Marketscan. SSDI RA patients in cohort 2 (model 3) had higher CVD risk (HR 1.23 (1.14-1.33). In cohort 3 (model 3), CVD risk was not statistically significantly different between SSDI and Marketscan (HR 0.89 (0.69-1.15).”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “RA patient beneficiaries of the SSDI had higher risk for CVD events than those employed. The differences in CVD events between SSDI and Marketscan were partially attributable to differences in CVD risk factors.”

For more information on this research see: Comparing cardiovascular risk of patients with rheumatoid arthritis within the Social Security Disability Insurance with those commercially insured. Arthritis Research & Therapy, 2022,24(1):1-7. (Arthritis Research & Therapy - http://www.arthritis-research.com/). The publisher for Arthritis Research & Therapy is BMC.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1186/s13075-022-02847-1.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Iris Navarro-Millan, Weill Cornell Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine. Additional authors for this research include Fenglong Xie, Cynthia S. Crowson, Monika M. Safford, Mangala Rajan, Sebastian E. Sattui, Jeffrey R. Curtis.

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