Abstract:

Aim: Previous studies have shown that rheumatoid arthritis and aging are independent risk factors for decreased hand grip strength. However, little is known about how coexisting rheumatoid arthritis would affect the reduced hand grip strength in the elderly population. Therefore, the aims of this study were to compare the hand grip strength of elderly female rheumatoid arthritis patients with controls and to investigate the factors associated with hand grip strength in the patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study included 45 elderly women with rheumatoid arthritis and 43 age-matched controls. All subjects were provided with self-reported questionnaires measuring physical disability, anxiety and depression, sleep quality, cognitive impairment, and fatigue severity. Hand grip strength was measured with hand dynamometer. The disease activity was assessed by the Disease Activity Score. Results: There were no significant differences in values of age, body mass index, physical disability, anxiety and depression, sleep quality, cognitive impairment, fatigue severity, and grip strength between the groups. Disease period, physical disability, and disease activity were variables which showed statistically significant negative correlation with grip strength in rheumatoid arthritis patients. In further linear regression analysis, it is found that only long disease duration was associated with decreased grip strength. Conclusion: Rheumatoid arthritis does not seem to significantly affect aging-related muscle strength loss. Disease duration was found to be the only independent factor associated with hand grip strength in elderly rheumatoid arthritis patients.

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