Background/Purpose: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) are complex diseases of unknown etiology and its pathogenesis results from the combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental factors (smoking, alcohol consumption, diet, …etc). Among the environmental factors, diet habits are of particular interest since they are modifiable factors. To date, information about dietary habits in this group of patients is very limited. The aim of this study was to analyze dietary habits in a large cohort of patients with RA and PsA from the Spanish population

Methods: A multicentre cross-sectional comparative study of RA and PsA patients was performed. All patients were recruited through the Immune-Mediated Inflammatory Diseases Consortium (IMIDC) from 2007 to 2012. The IMIDC is a network of Spanish biomedical researchers focused in the study of the molecular basis of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases.  All patients included in the present study were selected from the outpatient clinics of the Rheumatology departments at 20 different Spanish University Hospitals. An epidemiological questionnaire developed by experts at DNA National Bank was applied to obtain all data. The dietary questionnaire included the assessment of the number of days per week in which patients consumed certain foods: fresh fruit, meat, fish, legumes, vegetables, pasta, rice, bread, dairy products, sausage and sweets. 

Results: From a total number of 3,941 patients surveyed n=3,229 patients were included in the present study:  n=1,128 (65%) had Rheumatoid arthritis and n=1,128 (35%) Psoriatic arthritis. The proportion of women was 77% in RA patients and 47% in PsA patients. We observed that the mean number of days per week eating fish and fruit was significantly higher in RA than in PsA patients ([5.58 vs 5.09; P=8x10E-12] [2.65 vs 2.52; P=2x10E-2]). Pasta, rice and potatoes intake was also significantly increased in RA patients ([3.41 vs 3.22; P=7x10E-3]. In this group, the mean of vegetable weekly intake was 4.23 days and in PsA group was 3.97 days (P=6x10E-4). Dairy products consumption was also significantly higher in RA than in PsA patients (5.89 vs 5.62; P=3x10E-5). Among PsA patients the mean number of days per week of intake meat, sausage and sweets was significantly higher comparing to RA patients ([3.17 vs 2.72; P=3x10E-13], [2.02 vs 1.58; P=9x10E-10], [2.98 vs 2.72; P=5x10E-3]).

Conclusion: In our large cohort of patients we describe for the first time the dietary habits differences between rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis patients in Spanish population. Significant differences in the consumption of several foods have been observed. Fruit, fish, pasta, rice, potatoes and vegetables were the group of aliments that RA patients intake more days per week; while meat, sausage and sweets are eaten more often in PsA patients. Our findings could provide insights about the possible implication of dietary factors in the development and prognosis of these diseases. It would be also interesting to study if these factors could contribute to disease prevention strategies.

---

« Back to 2014 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/assessing-dietary-habits-in-a-large-cohort-of-rheumatoid-arthritis-and-psoriatic-arthritis-patients-results-of-the-spanish-imid-consortium/