Adverse lifestyle had the most expressed association with HRQoL in women with CCs. Light alcohol consumption had a positive association, but harmful use of alcohol had an inverse association with HRQoL irrespective of patients' gender or health status.

The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in early RA patients with age-gender-matched population controls focusing on the presence of MetS in different weight categories. The study group consisted of 91 consecutive patients with early RA and 273 age- and gender-matched controls subjects. MetS was diagnosed according to the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP-ATP III) criteria. Mean age in both groups was 52 years, and 72.5 % were female. The prevalence of MetS did not differ between the two groups (35.2 % in RA, 34.1 % in control group). Mean systolic blood pressure in the RA group was 137 mmHg, in control group 131 mmHg, P = 0.01, and diastolic blood pressure 85 versus 81 mmHg, respectively (P < 0.01). We found that 20 of 65 (30.8 %) of RA patients compared to 80 of 152 (52.6 %) of the control subjects with elevated blood pressure received antihypertensive treatment (P < 0.01). When comparing subgroups with normal BMI, the odds of having MetS (being metabolically obese) were higher among early RA subjects (OR 5.6, CI 1.3-23.8). Of the individual components of metabolic syndrome, we found increased prevalence of hypertension (OR 2.8, CI 1.3-6.0) and hyperglycemia (OR 2.9, CI 1.0-8.0) in the RA group. Recognition of abnormal metabolic status among normal-weight RA patients who have not yet developed CVD could provide a valuable opportunity for preventative intervention.

A -Study Design, B -Data Collec on, C -Sta s cal Analysis, D -Data Interpreta on, E -Manuscript Prepara on, F -Literature Search, G -Funds Collec on Background. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important component of comprehensive management in primary care. Objec ves. The purpose of this study was to inves gate the rela onships between physical performance measures and self-reported HRQoL and to fi nd op mal values of muscle func on tests associated with lower HRQoL. Material and methods. From a single primary health care center pa ent list, 330 subjects were randomly selected. Informa on about the pa ent's age, gender, body mass index and presence of self-reported chronic diseases was collected, as well as analyses for systemic infl amma on and vitamin D. Physical performance was measured by dominant hand grip strength (GS) and a 30-second chair stand test (30-CST). The physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component scores of the Short-Form-36 Ques onnaire (SF-36) were used to evaluate HRQoL. The predic ve power of physical func on measures were tested with mul variate linear regression analyses. Threshold values for physical func on tests were calculated by receiver opera ng characteris c curves.