Introduction:

rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune, inflammatory, systemic and chronic disease that is characterized by the involvement of small joints of the hands and feet generating different degrees of functional disability and decreased perception of health-related quality of life.

Objective:

to determine the relationship between nutritional status and clinical activity in patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

Methods:

descriptive and correlational study in 96 patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis according to the criteria of the American College of Rheumatology who were treated at the Andean Hospital of Chimborazo. Nutritional status was determined by body mass index and clinical activity by DAS 28. Pearson's correlation test was used to determine the relationship between nutritional status and clinical activity.

Results:

average age of 64.23 years, patients between 60 years or older (51.04%) and female (78.12%) predominated. 67.71% of the cases presented comorbidities associated with a predominance of arterial hypertension (43.07%), hypothyroidism (35.38%) and fibromyalgia (32.31%). Overweight was present in 37.50% and obesity in 16.67% of cases; 46.88% of the patients presented mild clinical activity and 29.17% moderate, 14.58% were in remission.

Conclusions:

the presence of nutritional alterations due to excess (overweight and obesity) positively influence the clinical activity of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, finding a significant positive correlation between them.

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