Association Between the Quality of Life Domains with Anthropometric and Adiposity Indices in Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study from a Single Centre in Erbil-Iraq.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the association between the anthropometric/adiposity indices or ratios with the status of quality of life (QoL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients.

Methods: This study was carried out in the Rizgary Teaching Hospital in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq between 1^st December 2021 and 31^st March 2022. Seventy-five women with a mean value of 11.3 years' duration of disease were included in this study. The data relating to the demographic characteristics, disease activity score (DAS-28), biochemical measurements of the rheumatic profile, and anthropometric/adiposity indices and the ratios were included. The QoL of each patient was assessed using the WHOQOL-BREF.

Results: The mean ± SD of the age and duration of disease were 49.6± 12.0, and 11.3±8.4 year. 70 out of 75 (93.3%) patients have a DAS-28 score of >2.6. The median values of the transform scores of the WHOQOL-BREF domains were less than 50. There were significant inverse correlations between BMI, and waist-to-height ratio with physical activity (r = -0.167, p = 0.05, and r = -0.168, p = 0.05, respectively). Social domain was significantly and inversely correlated with waist-to-hip, estimated total body fat, and waist-adjusted weight index. A higher BMI and a lower hip index were associated significantly with a lower mean scores of physical health.

Conclusion: In RA patients, obesity is frequently observed. Over-weight and obese patients had a significantly lower mean score of physical health.