Investigation of Body Compositions and Dietary Habits of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Case Control Study

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the body composition and dietary habits of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and to compare them with healthy controls. Material and Methods: 64 participants (RA n=32 and mean age: 55.2±1.5 years; Healthy Group n=32 and mean age: 54.5±1.5 years) were included in the study. Body compositions (body mass index, body fat ratio, skeletal muscle mass, skeletal muscle mass index) were evaluated with the body analysis system device (Polosmart PSC12 Prolife) and dietary habits (meat/fish consumption, legumes consumption, egg consumption, milk/dairy product consumption and liquid consumption) were evaluated with questions created by the researchers. In the comparison of independent group differences, the Independent Samples T Test was used when the parametric test assumptions were met, and the Mann Whitney U test was used when the parametric test assumptions were not met.. Results: When comparing body compositions, there was a significant difference in skeletal muscle mass (p=0.001) and skeletal muscle mass index (p=0.002) in favor of the healthy group; but body mass index and body fat ratios were similar (p>0.05). When comparing the dietary habits, milk/dairy product (p=0.008), meat/fish (p=0.001), legumes (p=0.001) and liquid (p=0.046) consumptions were higher in healthy group; but egg consumption was similar (p>0.05) Conclusion: The patients with RA had less muscle mass, lower skeletal muscle mass index scores, and worse nutritional levels compared to healthy controls. In the light of these results, we recommend that patients with RA receive support from professional centers regulating dietary habits, as well as exercise methods that increase muscle mass.