Patients with a high genetic risk of rheumatoid arthritis may experience the greatest reduction in disease risk by adopting healthy sleep patterns and moderate physical activity, according to a recent study. 

In the recent prospective cohort study, published in BMC Medicine, investigators analyzed the relationship between sleep patterns, physical activity (PA), genetic susceptibility, and the risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis (RA). They used data from 363,211 adults in a European cohort over 12.5 years, identifying 4,262 incident cases of RA.

The investigators then evaluated five sleep behaviors, including sleep duration, insomnia, snoring, chronotype, and daytime sleepiness, to define sleep patterns. Genetic risk for RA was assessed using a genetic risk score. Multivariate-adjusted Cox proportional hazard models were used to analyze the associations between sleep patterns, PA, and genetic risk with the incidence of RA.

The investigators found that the patients with healthy sleep patterns had a lower likelihood of developing RA, with an adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.79 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.75–0.84), regardless of other common risk factors and genetic predisposition. A nonlinear relationship was observed between PA and RA risk, with patients in the third quintile of PA exhibiting the lowest risk (HR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.76–0.92). Additionally, an additive interaction between intermediate sleep patterns and moderate PA further reduced RA risk (relative excess risk caused byinteraction = 0.45, 95% CI = 0.02–0.87). The patients with high genetic risk demonstrated the greatest absolute risk reduction (10.58 per 1,000 person-years) when adopting both healthy sleep and moderate PA behaviors.

Full disclosures can be found in the published study.