Footnotes

• Collaborators Cardiovascular Obesity and Rheumatic DISeases (CORDIS) Study Group of the Italian Society of Rheumatology.

• Contributors FC designed the study and was responsible for the literature search, data collection, statistical analysis and interpretation, and wrote the manuscript. AM was responsible for the literature search, data collection and interpretation. GE, MP, GS, OV and EG were responsible for data collection and interpretation. FA and FRS were responsible for the literature search, data collection and writing of the final draft. EB was responsible for literature search, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation and writing of the manuscript.

• Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

• Competing interests None declared.

• Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting or dissemination plans of this research. Refer to the Methods section for further details.

• Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.