Abstract
Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA) are the most common forms of arthritis. On the other hand, lifestyle-related behaviors are associated with cardiovascular and autoimmune diseases. Hence, the present study aimed to examine the relationship between increased Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) scores and reduced risk of RA and OA.
Materials and Methods: In the present study, databases including Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, PubMed, and Google Scholar search engine were conducted to retrieve the required articles published by February 20, 2026. Data extracted from the reviewed studies were entered into SPSS 19 and analyzed using Stata 14.
Results: Increased LE8 scores reduced the risk of RA (OR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.78, 1.00) and OA (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.78, 0.97). A moderate level of LE8 compared with a low level (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.60, 0.75) and a high LE8 level compared with a low level (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.45, 0.54) reduced the risk of RA and OA. Furthermore, increased LE8 scores in women (OR: 0.66, 95% CI: 0.54, 0.81), men (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.52, 0.86), cross-sectional studies (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.80, 0.87), cohort studies (OR: 0.90, 95% CI: 0.85, 0.94), the USA (OR: 0.92, 95% CI: 0.90, 0.95), and the UK (OR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.83, 0.85) reduced the risk of RA and OA.
Conclusion: Increased LE8 scores reduced the risk of RA and OA by 12% and 13%, respectively, and higher LE8 scores led to greater percentages of prevention against RA and OA. Additionally, there was no significant difference between men and women regarding the association between increased LE8 scores and reduced risk of RA and OA.
Registration: This study has been compiled based on the PRISMA checklist, and its protocol was registered on the PROSPERO (ID: CRD420261376295) and Research Registry (UIN: reviewregistry2097) websites.