Weather Variability and Rheumatoid Arthritis: Uncovering Associations with Atmospheric Pressure and Temperature Changes

Abstract

Abstract Objectives The aim of this study was to investigate the potential impact of weather on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity using registry data from the Taiwan Rheumatology Association Clinical Electronic Registry (TRACER), a mobile application used to record disease activity and medication in selected centers. Methods A total of 567 patients with RA were included in this study, with data on disease activity score, 28 joint-count erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-ESR), and medication (including disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biological DMARDs (bDMARDs) recorded in TRACER. Weather data were obtained from the observation data inquiring system of the Central Weather Bureau, Taiwan. GEE statistical models were used to analyze the association between patient's DAS28-ESR, medication and weather data. Results Of the 567 RA patients included in the study population, 75% were female, and the mean age at diagnosis was 52 years (range 15–84 years). The mean DAS28-ESR was 3.8 (range 0.2-8.0) in bDMARDs users and 3.6 (range 0.2–7.8) in DMARDs users. The results revealed that atmospheric pressure and temperature changes, rather than sunshine hours and relative humidity, were significantly associated with RA disease activity (p < 0.05). Conclusion This study demonstrated the value of TRACER as a tool for recording valuable data on daily practice, which can be exported for statistical analysis. Our findings suggest that weather changes, particularly atmospheric pressure and temperature changes, are associated with RA disease activity, especially in those patients with positive rheumatoid factors (RF).