Pos1044 Impact of Sarcopenia on Fatigue in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass and/or strength. It was initially associated with the aging process. Recent studies revealed its occurrence in various chronic inflammatory conditions, which could affect the quality of life of patients. Objectives: Evaluate the impact of fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Methods: A monocentric cross-sectional study was conducted on female patients with RA meeting the ACR/EULAR 2010 criteria. Demographic, clinical, paraclinical and therapeutic data of participants were collected. Muscle mass and strength were evaluated to identify sarcopenia. Muscle mass was assessed by measuring the appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (ASMI) using Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) and dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA). Muscle strength was determined by the hand grip test using a dynamometer. Sarcopenia was defined as an ASMI ≤ 5.5 kg/m2 AND a hand grip test Results: Fifty-five female patients were included. The average age was 58.22±7.9 years 40-76. Nineteen were of rural origin, 10 were professionally active. Smoking was present in 3.6% (n=2) of our patients. Twenty-nine per cent (n=16) had hypertension and 34.5% (n=19) were diabetic. The average duration of RA progression was 9.2±6.4 years 1-30. The mean DAS28-CRP was 4±1.8 1.2-6.5. Active disease was noted in 89.1% (n=49). The mean Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was 1.08±0.6 0.1-2.5. All our patients had at least one conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug. Biologics were used in 23 patients (41.8%). Fifty-four were treated with corticosteroids, with an average dose of 6±1.9 mg of prednisone. Sarcopenia was detected in 85.5% (n=49) of patients with a hand grip test of 9.48±5.7 kg 1.8-25.6. The mean appendicular skeletal muscle mass index (IMSA) was 7.42±1.2 kg/m2 5.41-11.01 by BIA and 6.47±1.1 kg/m2 4.19-8.84 by DEXA. It indicated the presence of sarcopenia in 7.3% (n=4) of the patients using BIA versus 21.8% (n=12) with DEXA. The mean FACIT-F was 32.36 15-49. Forty per cent of patients had fatigue. Sarcopenia was associated with greater functional limitations assessed by HAQ (p= 0.046) However, our study did not find a significant correlation between sarcopenia and FACIT-F score (p=0.532). Conclusion: Sarcopenia did not seem to be associated with fatigue during rheumatoid arthritis. However, it was associated with poor functional outcomes. REFERENCES: NIL. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests: None declared.