Correlation between Red Cell Band Width and Disease Severity in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Objective: To determine the correlation between red cell band width and disease severity in patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Rheumatology/General Medicine Department, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi Pakistan, from Jul 2019 to Feb 2020. Methodology: Patients of rheumatoid arthritis, who were already diagnosed as per 2010 ACR/EULAR (American college of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatism) classification criteria were included in the study. Red cell band width was determined in all the patients from laboratory of own hospital. Severity of rheumatoid arthritis was determined on the basis of Disease Activity Score-28 (DAS-28). Results: Mean age of the study participants was 36.37±7.822 years. 99(39.6%) patients had mild activity disease, 115(46%) had moderate while 36(14.4%) had severe activity of illness. 137(54.8%) had red cell band width within normal range while 113(45.2%) had increased with. Pearson chi-square test revealed that increasing age, long duration of illness and increased red cell band width had a statistically significant association with severity of illness (p-value <0.05). Conclusion: Considerable number of patients suffering from rheumatoid arthritis had severe form of illness. Increased red cell band width emerged as a predictor of severe form of illness among the study participants in addition to the advancing age of patient and long duration of illness.