Frequency of infections among rheumatoid arthritis patients, before and after disease onset

Abstract

The self‐reported frequency of genitourinary and bronchopulmonary infections in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and in postmenopausal women with osteoarthritis and/or soft tissue rheumatism was compared. Neither before, nor after the onset of joint disease was a higher frequency reported by the RA patients. The previously established increased mortality from infectious disease among RA patients might be due to a more severe infectious disease course, leading to an increased case‐fatality rate.