PROFESSIONAL VS NON-PROFESSIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS

PRELIMINARY REPORT: APRIL 2009 - AUGUST 2010 National Infl ammatory Arthritis Registry NIAR 18

3. CHARACTERISTICS OF PATIENTS

3.1 NUMBER OF PATIENTS FULFILLING AMERICAN COLLEGE OF RHEUMATOLOGY ACR CRITERIA

The tradi onal defi ni on for Rheumatoid Arthri s has been defi ned as pa ents fulfi lling 4 or more of the 7 criteria listed in the 1987 ACR criteria Table 2 3. This criteria has been revised in the new ACR-EULAR criteria published in 2010 4. Morning s ff ness 1 hour ≥ 3 joints arthri s Arthri s in a wrist, MCP or PIP joint Symmetrical arthri s Factor Posi ve rheumatoid factor Erosions or osteopenia on hand or wrist radiograph symptoms present for at least 6 weeks Table 2: 1987 ACR criteria for Rheumatoid Arthri s The propor on of pa ents fulfi lling each criterion is shown in Table 3. ACR criteria of pa ents fulfi lling criteria ≥ 3 joints arthri s 94.4 Symmetrical arthri s 92.8 Arthri s in a wrist, MCP or PIP joint 70.5 Morning s ff ness 1 hour 70.5 Posi ve rheumatoid factor 68.5 Erosions or osteopaenia on hand or wrist radiograph 41.0 Rheumatoid factor 6.1 Table 3: Percentage of pa ents fulfi lling each ACR criteria PRELIMINARY REPORT: APRIL 2009 - AUGUST 2010 National Infl ammatory Arthritis Registry NIAR 19 The percentage of pa ents fulfi lling the 1987 ACR criteria is shown in Figure 9. 78.3 fulfi ll the ACR criteria defi ni on for Rheumatoid Arthri s however a signifi cant propor on fulfi ll less than 4 of the criteria. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 4 22.5 34 1.8 20 5 6 7 21.7 78.3 ≥ 4 ≥ 4 o f p a e n ts Number of ACR Criteria fulfi lled Figure 9: Percentage of pa ents fulfi lling ACR criteria

3.2 DURATION OF DISEASE BEFORE DIAGNOSIS

Almost half of the pa ents were diagnosed late, that is more than a year a er the onset of symptoms. However, a signifi cant propor on of pa ents were diagnosed between 1 to 6 months from symptom onset. 10 20 30 40 50 37.3 6 months 6 months 12 months 14 48.7 Number of months from symptom onset to diagnosis Figure 10: Distribu on of pa ents according to dura on of disease before diagnosis