Association between rheumatoid arthritis with gender, age, obesity and smoking among middle aged and old aged population-a survey

Abstract

As the population of teenagers and middle-aged humans increases, the number of smokers and the people associated with various diseases due to this habit also increase. The reason for the number of increased smokers arises due to peer pressure and other factors such as anxiety and stress. One such disease associated with smoking is rheumatoid arthritis which is characterised by inflammation of joints. The present study was conducted to understand the influence of various factors such as gender, age and smoking with the risk of occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis. For the present study, a selfadministered questionnaire comprising 15 questions was prepared and circulated via an online google form link. The results obtained were recorded and analysed using the SPSS software version 22, and the statistical test used was descriptive statistics. From the present study, it was observed that a majority of the participants were aware of the rheumatoid disease arthritis and believed that hormones such as estrogen could increase the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Majority of the population also found that nicotine from cigarettes can increase the occurrence of RA. The present study concluded that RA could be prevented by following a balanced diet and by creating awareness on the same.