Objectives: Patients with RA have a higher risk of ischemic cardiac events compared with the general population. This would be explained not only by the greater presence of traditional risk factors, but also by the systemic inflammatory nature of the disease. Compare self-reported prevalence of risk factors in rheumatoid patients with prevalence data from the brazilian general population. MethOds: Cross-sectional study between July and November 2014 including 183 patients with rheumatoid arthritis of both sexes, aged 20 years or older, in primary or secondary care units of the city of Blumenau, southern Brazil. Data collection was conducted through structured personal interview and, if needed, later complemented by phone. The national survey Vigitel 2012 was used to collect data from brazilian general population. Results: The target population consisted of 183 patients, 153 (83.6%) were female, mean age of 56.9 years and mean duration of disease of 12.1 years. The prevalence of self-reported comorbidities of the target population when compared with general population prevalence was respectively: hypertension 44.8% versus 28.3%, diabetes mellitus 9.2% versus 12.5%, dyslipidemia 22.9% versus 16.5%, overweight 41.5% versus 35.8% and obesity 18.5% versus 19.1%, prior smoking 45.9% versus 23.4%, current smoking 8.7% versus 12.8%, physical inactivity 65% versus 14.2%. Positive family history for cardiovascular disease was observed in 42% of rheumatoid patients, that shows mean body mass index of 26.3 kg/m2. cOnclusiOns: The study result shows that the self-reported prevalence of traditional risk factors for ischemic heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Blumenau is higher than the national prevalence of hypertension, dyslipidemia, overweight, previous smoking and physical inactivity. By contrast, the prevalence is lower for diabetes mellitus and current smoking.

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