Objectives Assess the risk of falls in patients with osteoporosis (OP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA)

Methods Complete clinical-epidemiological evaluation of 72 patients with a documented diagnosis of RA (according to the criteria of ACR, 1987.) and OP [women - 54 (75%), men - 18 (25%), mean age - 55,7 ± 8,6 years, duration of RA - 7,4 ± 5,3 years] was performed. Patients were asked to report the number of drops from its own growth made to them within 1 year prior to this study, and the number of fractures due to falls. Osteoporotic fractures (at least one fracture, stratification “yes / no“) of the proximal femur, tibia bone, forearm, upper arm were described. Also, all patients were assessed functional status by index HAQ.

Results 15 patients (20.8%) reported that they had not a single drop, and 21 (29.2%) - fell 1 time, 27 (37.5%) - 2 times, 9 (12.5%) - 3 times or more. Most of the falls (65.8%) occurred in the winter. At least one osteoporotic fracture occurred in 23 (31.9%) patients, 12 (52.2%) of these fractures were repeated and in 16 (69.6%) occurred as a result of two or more falls. It was also established that the degree of restriction of the functional status (HAQ) and the number of falls there is a direct correlation (ρ = 0,23; p <0,05).

Conclusions Fall - an independent risk factor for osteoporotic fractures. In RA the risk of falls is quite high, largely due to decreased functional status of patients. It is shown that fractures often occur as a result of repeated falls, and therefore must be a set of measures aimed at reducing the impact of potential risk factors for falls, including the improvement of the functional status of patients.

Disclosure of Interest None Declared