It will be conducted in Balıkesir University, Faculty of Medicine, Health Practice and Research Hospital, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
The study planned to include patients with rheumatoid arthritis classified according to the 2010 American College of Rheumatology/European League Against Rheumatology (ACR/EULAR) criteria. The study will be conducted on patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and followed up in physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinics.
Bone mineral density measurement (DEXA), urea, creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, calcium, phosphorus, thyroid stimulating hormone, free thyroxine, parathyroid hormone and 25-OH vitamin D levels in routine examinations of the patients within the last year and the medications used will be obtained from the patient files and recorded.
Patients taking multiple medications with anticholinergic effects create an anticholinergic burden. Several tools have been developed to estimate the cumulative effects of drugs with anticholinergic effects in individuals. They are based on either expert consensus, serum anticholinergic activity or pharmacological principles. The Anticholinergic Drug Scale, Anticholinergic Cognitive Burden Scale and Anticholinergic Risk Scale, which are widely used to measure anticholinergic burden, will be used in the study.
The Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (FRAX) will be used to assess fracture risk in patients. The University of Sheffield launched the FRAX tool in 2008 (Center for Metabolic Bone Diseases, University of Sheffield, UK).
