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Background: The aim of the study was to determine the serum vitamin D levels in patients with psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and compare it with patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and with osteoarthritis (OA), as well as to explore the relationship of the vitamin D level with indices of disease activity and functional ability in a real-life setting in a South-European country., Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 120 adult patients with established diagnosis of PsA, RA and OA were consecutively enrolled. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D and intact parathyroid hormone were determined. Parameters of disease activity and functional ability were obtained using standard instruments., Results: Serum vitamin D insufficiency (≤ 75 nmol/L) was found in 74% of patients with PsA, 94% patients with RA and 97% of patients with OA, whereas vitamin D deficiency (≤ 25 nmol/L) was found in 13% of patients with PsA, 39% of patients with RA and in 38% of patients with OA. Compared with RA, patients with PsA had significantly higher serum vitamin D (P = 0.002), and when controlling for age and gender, their serum vitamin D level was significantly associated with disease activity and functional activity., Conclusions: In the group of rheumatic patients, a high prevalence of serum vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency was found regardless of the type of arthritis. Patients with PsA might have higher levels of vitamin D than patients with RA, and this was associated with disease activity and functional ability. The results of this study indicate that prophylactic supplementation with vitamin D might be recommended for all rheumatic patients.

The aim of this study was to analyze the progression of hand osteoarthritis in rural population and to determine the factors which could influence that progression. Participants of both sexes were 54-56 years of age at the first visit. Radiographs of both hands, anthropometry and blood pressure measurement were performed at baseline and than repeated 10 years later. Total number of 286 participants completed the study. Radiographs were red according to Kellgren-Lawrence criteria. Distal interphalangeal (DIP) joints were most frequently affected with osteoarthritis at the baseline and after 10 years. The worst deterioration (three grades) was found in DIP joints in women and in proximal interphalangeal joints in men. Grip strength in men was significantly related with progression of the disease, which allow us to conclude that in our population sample mechanical factors, probably occupational workload, are associated with the more rapid progression of the disease.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of radiographic osteoarthritis on five joint groups in an urban population sample of 306 women and 304 men over the age of 45 and to assess the influence of some risk factors on osteoarthritis. The validity of concept of generalized osteoarthritis was also examined by analyzing the association of osteoarthritis on different joint sites., Methods: Radiographs of both hands, both knees, and the right hip were taken. Osteoarthritic changes on distal interphalangeal, proximal interphalangeal, first carpometacarpal joints, knees, and hip were graded according to the Kellgren-Lawrence scale. The association among osteoarthritis on different joint sites was analyzed using logistic regression. Subjects were tested for age, duration of postmenopause, anthropometric measures, blood pressure, and smoking as risk factors for osteoarthritis., Results: Hip was the most frequent site of osteoarthritis in men (27.3%), whereas distal interphalangeal joints predominated in women (43.5%). Polyarticular osteoarthritis (+/-3 joints) was present in 10.8% women and 5.9% men. There was a significant influence of age on single joint osteoarthritis, but not on multiple joint involvement. Obesity was significantly correlated with knee osteoarthritis in women and with osteoarthritis on distal interphalangeal joints in men. CONCLUSIONS. In our population sample, the prevalence of knee osteoarthritis was lower and the prevalence of hip osteoarthritis higher than reported for most of other populations. The tendency towards polyarticular osteoarthritis that is more common than would be expected by age, suggests a subset of generalized osteoarthritis.

Degenerative changes in the finger joints were studied in 550 Zagreb inhabitants, above the age of 45. The sample was selected by the method of unproportional stratified choice according to age and sex. Radiographs of both hands were taken and osteoarthrosis on the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints was graded according to the five-point Kellgren-Lawrence scale. Body weight, height and arterial blood pressure were measured and occupational work load was evaluated. The prevalence of osteoarthrosis in the finger joints was significantly higher in women (40.9%) than in men (24.8%). It increased with age so that 18.7% of men and 15.0% of women aged 45-54 had finger osteoarthrosis compared to 36.3% of men and 68.2% of women aged 75 and older. Distal interphalangeal joints were more often involved (22.8% of men and 37.9% of women) than the proximal ones (9.7% of men and 19.6% of women). The factors most closely associated with osteoarthrosis were age and body weight. Occupational work load, as classified in this study, was not significantly related to the development of osteoarthrosis, except in the group of housewives, in whom the prevalence of finger arthrosis was greater than in the other groups of women.