METS-IR Effective in Predicting Cardiovascular Disease in Arthritis Patients: Study

A recent 7-year cohort study highlighted the effectiveness of the Metabolic Score for Insulin Resistance (METS-IR) in predicting cardiovascular disease (CVD) risks among Chinese patients with arthritis. The findings published in the Rheumatology journal provided fresh insights into early risk identification for this vulnerable population.

Despite the well-documented connection between arthritis and heightened CVD risk, prediction tools have remained limited. This extensive research utilized data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) to fill that gap by analyzing a total of 1,059 arthritis patients over a 7-year period from 2011 to 2018. METS-IR derived from metabolic indicators linked to insulin resistance, was assessed as the primary exposure variable, while the occurrence of new CVD events formed the key outcome.

The results revealed a significant dose-response relationship between METS-IR and CVD risk. For every quartile increase in METS-IR, the patients faced a 36% higher risk of experiencing cardiovascular events (HR = 1.36, 95% CI: 1.14–1.61, p < 0.001). When comparing the highest quartile of METS-IR to the lowest, the data showed almost 63% higher risk of CVD (HR = 1.63, 95% CI: 1.12–2.37, p < 0.05). The study adjusted for confounding factors such as demographic characteristics and lifestyle variables by reinforcing the robustness of these findings.