• Niranjan Jeganathan, Elaine Nguyen, and Matheni Sathananthan.
• Loma Linda University Health, 23331, Medicine, Loma Linda, California, United States; njeganathan@llu.edu.
• Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2021 May 5.

RationaleThe burden of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and RA-associated interstitial lung disease (RA-ILD) in recent years has not been well characterized.ObjectiveIn this study, we sought to describe RA and RA-ILD-related mortality rates and trends in the U.S. from 2005-2018, stratified by demographics.MethodsWe used the Multiple Cause of Death Database available through the Centers for Disease Control and prevention website which contains data of all deceased U.S. residents. RA and RA-ILD-related deaths were identified using ICD-10 codes. We examined the age-adjusted mortality rates and trends stratified by demographics.ResultsRA and RA-ILD-related mortality rates were higher in females and older age groups. However, the prevalence of ILD was higher in male decedents with RA compared to female decedents with RA (13.3% vs. 8.7%). RA-related mortality rates were the highest in Native Americans followed by Whites. Compared to Whites, Hispanics had lower RA-related mortality rates but higher RA-ILD-related mortality rates. Overall RA-related mortality rates per 1,000,000 population decreased from 30.6 in 2005 to 22.2 in 2018. RA-related mortality rates declined in both sex, all races, and all age groups. However, RA-ILD-related mortality rates remained stable in both sex, all races, and all age groups except for ages 65 to 84 years, in which the rates declined.ConclusionsThe overall RA-related mortality rates are decreasing, however, RA-ILD-related mortality rates remain stable except in age groups 65-84 years. This would suggest that therapies for RA and improvement in the management of other comorbidities have improved the overall outcomes in RA patients, but have had limited effect in the subgroup of patients with RA-ILD.

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