Investigation of recurrence of joint symptoms after COVID 19 in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: Cross sectional study

Afsaneh Akbarpour, Mansour Salesi, Anahita Babak

Abstract


Background: In this study, the relationship between involvement by COVID?19 and the recurrence of symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was investigated.

Materials and Methods: This cross?sectional study was conducted on 112 patients with RA with and without a history of COVID?19. The severity and recurrence of RA symptoms were measured and recorded by the Disease Activity
Score in 28 joints (DAS?28) index and clinical evaluations by a rheumatologist.

Results: The results showed that the recurrence of RA in patients with and without a history of COVID?19 had a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001). In addition, there was a statistically significant relationship between erythrocyte sedimentation rate, visual analogue scale (VAS), tender joint count, swollen joint count, and DAS?28 and the history of COVID?19 (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: The present study showed that infection with COVID?19 leads to the recurrence of joint symptoms in RA patients.


Keywords


COVID?19, recurrence, rheumatoid arthritis

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