More than one-quarter of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have osteoporosis, according to a study published online Sept. 23 in Scientific Reports. Samaneh Moshayedi, from Arak University of Medical Sciences in Iran, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to assess the global prevalence of osteoporosis among RA patients. Based on 57 studies (including 227,812 cases of RA with 64,290 cases of osteoporosis), the researchers found that the summary point prevalence of osteoporosis among RA was 27.6 percent. Prevalence may be declining, with the highest prevalence seen in studies conducted during 2011 to 2015 (36.2 percent) compared with 2016 to 2021 (27.1 percent). Geographically, the highest prevalence of osteoporosis was seen in Africa (46.1 percent), followed by Asia (30.6 percent), Europe (25.6 percent), and the Americas. “Despite significant advances in prevention, treatment, and diagnostic methods in RA patients, it still seems that the prevalence of osteoporosis in these patients is high and requires better and timelier interventions,” the authors write.

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