As per the outcomes of a multi-center prospective cohort study, obese and overweight RA patients were 47% and 25% less likely to attain sustained remission. Obesity is an established modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease, diabetes mellitus, and osteoarthritis and weight management for persons with excess weight is recommended to optimize disease outcomes and reduce mortality. In this research, Schulman E et al evaluated the effects of overweight and obesity on the ability to achieve sustained remission (sREM) in the three years following RA diagnosis.

In this study, the authors collected the data from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH). sREM was defined as DAS28 <2.6 for two consecutive visits. Patients were categorized by BMI (healthy [18.5-24.9]; overweight [25-29.9]; and obese [≥30]). Cox regression was used to evaluate the effect of BMI on sREM over the first three years, and for controlling of age, sex, race, education, RA duration, smoking status, comorbidities, baseline DAS28, HAQ-DI, CRP, and initial treatment. Out of 982 patients, the BMI of 315 (32%), 343 (35%) and 324 (33%) patients have healthy overweight, and obese. Within the three years, 355 (36%) achieved sREM. This study also showed that overweight and obese patients were significantly less likely to obtain sREM as compared to healthy BMI. In conclusion, the results of this study demonstrated the negative impact of excess weight on RA disease activity.