Table 2.

Total deaths and specific causes of death according to incident RA diagnosis occurring during follow-up in the Nurses’ Health Study (1976–2012)^*

	RA (n = 964)	No RA (n = 118,245)
Total deaths, no. (%)	307 (31.8)	28,501 (24.1)
Cause of death, no. (% of total deaths)
Cancer	80 (26.1)	11,570 (40.6)
Cardiovascular disease†	70 (22.8)	6,203 (21.8)
Respiratory disease†	44 (14.3)‡	2,050 (7.2)
RA	27 (8.8)§	0 (0.0)
Dementia	15 (4.9)	1,998 (7.0)
Injury	11 (3.6)	1,120 (3.9)
Infection	4 (1.3)	405 (1.4)
Cirrhosis	4 (1.3)	278 (1.0)
Renal disease	4 (1.3)	346 (1.2)
Gastrointestinal disease	6 (2.0)	339 (1.2)
Diabetes mellitus	2 (0.7)	373 (1.3)
Parkinson’s disease	1 (0.3)	283 (1.0)
Other	26 (8.5)	2,430 (8.5)
Unable to classify by single diagnosis	13 (4.2)	1,106 (3.9)

^*RA = rheumatoid arthritis.

^†For cardiovascular disease–related mortality, International Classification of Diseases, Eighth Revision (ICD-8) codes 390–458 were combined into a single category, which included coronary heart disease, stroke, aortic aneurysm, valvular heart disease, cardiomyopathy, hypertensive heart disease, pericarditis, peripheral vascular disease, and pulmonary embolism. For respiratory disease–related mortality, ICD-8 codes 490–519 were combined into a single category, which included chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, pleurisy, lung abscess, bronchiectasis, and pulmonary fibrosis. This did not include lung cancer, pneumonia, influenza, or pulmonary tuberculosis.

^‡Of 44 respiratory deaths in women with RA, 25 were due to COPD, 9 were due to pneumonia, 6 were due to interstitial lung disease, 1 was due to asthma, and 3 were from other diseases of the respiratory system.

^§Of 27 deaths attributed to RA, 6 were due to RA-related factors, 6 were due to interstitial lung disease, 5 were due to sepsis, 2 were from pulmonary embolism, 1 was from myocardial infarction, and 7 were due to other causes.