Assessment of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Using Framingham Risk Score

Background: Chronic autoimmune rheumatoid arthritis generates harm to body systems beyond joints since it increases patients' vulnerability to developing cardiovascular disease. There are no studied reports examining how to evaluate cardiovascular risks for RA patients in Bangladesh. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to determine the cardiovascular risk factors among RA patients by applying the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) to identify principal risk predictors. Methodology: A two-year cross-sectional study took place at BIRDEM General Hospital between July 2022 and June 2024. A risk score analysis according to the Framingham model required data from eight criteria, including the patient's age, together with cholesterol measurements and blood pressure readings and smoking status, and presence of diabetes. According to Framingham Risk Score classification, patients were divided into low risk (<10%) and intermediate risk (10–20%), and high risk (>20%). SPSS version 25.0 was used for statistical analysis under a p<0.05 significance level. Result: The research included 100 RA patients with 78% females and 22% males, who fulfilled specified enrollment requirements. Analysis revealed that FRS assessment categories divided the study participants as 41% low risk while 36% had intermediate risk and 23% displayed high risk levels. This study established diabetes mellitus (p<0.001), dyslipidemia (p=0.001), hypertension (p=0.003), increasing age (p<0.001), and elevated C-reactive protein (CRP) levels (p=0.002) as major risk factors that increased FRS. The participants with RA that exceeded 10 years of existence demonstrated an increased cardiovascular risk profile, but this correlation did not meet statistical significance (p=0.009). Research findings supported earlier studies which showed that RA affects females at a ratio of 3.5 to 1 than males. Conclusion: The study demonstrates that patients with RA exhibit a substantial rise in their CVD risk, and diabetes, dyslipidem