PULMONARY FUNCTION TEST IN RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Background Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic disease manifested as a symmetric polyarthritis .This is the most common inflammatory arthritis affecting 0.5- 2percentage of the worlds population frequently in the 25-55 year old age group and has female predominance . Lung involvement is a common extra-articular manifestation of RA conferring significant morbidity and mortality. Our study is focused to find out the pulmonary function in Rheumatoid arthritis patients and it is compared to normal subjects.Materials and Methods A cross sectional case control study was conducted among 30 patients with RA in the age group of 30-50 years and disease duration of 3-5 years. Patients satisfying the 2010 ACR-EULAR criteria of rheumatoid arthritis were selected for the study. 30 healthy subjects were selected for the control group. General examination done and the height and weight were measured. Pulmonary function testing is done by Spirometer. Parameters Forced vital capacity (FVC), Forced expiratory volume during first second (FEV1) and FEV1FVC were compared between both the study groups. Students T test was carried out to compare the means of variables between RA patients and normal subjects. Statistical analysis was done using the SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) software version 7.5 and p value 0.05 was taken as significant.ResultsThe mean values of FVC of Rheumatoid arthritis patients were significantly lower than the normal subjects and the mean values of FEV1 of RA patients were also significantly lower than the controls .Hence, restrictive pattern of lung dysfunction is common in RA patients according to our study.Conclusion An adequate screening tool that could easily be integrated into clinical care would represent a critical step in early identification and treatment of these conditions. So, it is important to do the Pulmonary Function Test in order to detect and monitor changes in lung function in subjects with rheumatoid arthritis.