Key clinical point: The risk for dementia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) appears to be decreasing over time even when compared with non-RA referents.
Major finding: The 10-year cumulative incidence of ADRD for incident RA in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s was 12.7%, 7.2% and 6.2%, respectively. Overall risk for ADRD was higher among patients with RA vs non-RA referents (HR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.04-1.81), but this gap narrowed over time, with ADRD risk being higher in patients diagnosed with RA vs referents in the 1990s (HR, 1.72; 95% CI, 1.09-2.70) but not in the 2000s (HR, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.51-1.45).
Study details: The data come from a retrospective, population-based cohort study involving 897 patients with RA diagnosed between 1980 and 2009 and matched with 885 non-RA referents.
Disclosures: This study was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Disease and National Institute of Aging . No conflicts of interest were reported.
Source: Kronzer VL et al. Semin Arthritis Rheum. 2021 Jun 15 . doi: 10.1016/j.semarthrit.2021.06.003 .