Background/Purpose: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major comorbidity in patients (pts) with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). We explored variations in the prevalence of cardiovascular (CV) risk factors and CVD among patients (pts) in different international regions using data in CORRONA International (C.Intl) and CORRONA US (C.USA) registries.

Methods: The C.Intl registry, launched in September 2011, is a multi-center, observational registry. Adult RA pts have been enrolled from 83 rheumatology practices in 10 countries in 3 regions [Latin America: Mexico, Brazil, Argentina; Eastern Europe: Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Ukraine; Asia: India].  The only exclusion criteria are functional class IV and age >85 years old.

The C.USA registry was launched in 2001 and enrolls pts from 111 rheumatology practices across the United States. There are no exclusion criteria.

Both registries collect data in a similar manner on demographics, lifestyle characteristics, anthropometry, medication exposures, adverse events and comorbidities from rheumatologists and RA pts at regular clinical encounters.

We present cross-sectional baseline descriptive data for demographic and disease characteristics for the C.Intl regions. We compare this information with cross-sectional data from the most recent visit of C.USA-enrolled pts excluding those with functional class IV and >85 years of age. Prevalence for CV risk factors and CVD are presented crude for C.USA and age/gender-standardized to the C.USA age/gender distribution (age categories <50, 50-<60, 60-<70, ≥70 years) for C.Intl regions. No formal statistical testing was conducted.

Results: As of March 4 2013, 5696 pts had been enrolled in C.Intl and 20291 pts with functional class While there are cross-sectional differences across all regions, in general, the greatest differences are between the US and C.Intl overall.  There is a higher percentage of male pts in C.USA, disease duration is longer, and pts tend to have lower disease activity, yet are more likely to receive a biologic (Table 1).

After adjusting for age and gender differences by standardization, enrolled pts in India have the lowest BMI, are more rarely smokers and have a low prevalence of hyperlipidemia and CVD compared to other C.Intl regions and C.USA (Table 1).  C.USA participants have the highest BMI. Participants from Eastern Europe suffer more frequently from hypertension and hyperlipidemia and have the highest prevalence of all manifestations of CVD (Table 1).

Conclusion: Data from the C.Intl and C.USA registries reveal variations in disease characteristics, as well as prevalence of CV risk factors and CVD across different regions. Observed differences may be influenced by differences in the composition and treatment of pts populations and should be considered in analyses and evaluation of pts from different geographic origins.