Serious infections in a population‐based cohort of 86,039 seniors with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Seniors with RA have significant morbidity related to serious infections, which exceeds previous reports among younger RA populations. Rural residence, higher comorbidity, markers of disease severity, and previous infection were associated with serious infections in seniors with RA. Our results emphasize that many RA drugs may increase the risk of infection, but glucocorticoids appear to confer a particular risk.