Cardiovascular risk profiles in a hospital-based population of patients with psoriatic arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis: a cross-sectional study

The objective of the study was to investigate the frequency of traditional risk factors for the cardiovascular (CV) disease, to calculate the Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (SCORE) for CV-related mortality in Danish patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and to compare with results from patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) from the same settlement. All PsA and AS patients aged 18–85 years from one outpatient clinic were invited. A rheumatology nurse conducted 30-min screening consultation, preceded by a lipid and glucose profile. High SCORE risk led to recommendation of follow-up by general practitioners. Multiple and logistic regression analyses, adjusted for age and gender, were performed, to compare risk factors and risk SCOREs. Participants were 116 AS (29.3% female) and 170 PsA (54.7% female). AS had opposed PsA patients’ lower 10-year risk SCOREs of CV mortality than RA patients: AS versus RA coefficient −0.47 (confidence interval (CI) 95%: −0.84 to −0.) and PsA versus RA −0.14, (−0.43–0.16). Women with PsA and AS had increased waistline compared to women with RA [PsA vs. RA 7.94 (4.51–11.38); AS versus RA 6.67 (1.17–12.17)], and an increased prevalence of hypertension was seen in AS versus RA patients [1.87 (1.15–3.05)]. Traditional, modifiable CV risk factors were present in PsA and AS patients. AS but not PsA patients had an estimated lower 10-year risk of CV mortality than RA patients, according to the SCORE model adjusted for age and gender.