Do you die from rheumatism? The five-year mortality in a middle-aged population sample with respect to reported joint...

With special reference to reported joint symptoms, the five-year mortality was studied of a population sample of 3394 persons, 56-60 years old in 1965. An age- and sex-matched comparison was made between the mortality of the total population of the same age-group, and the sample investigated. A significant excess mortality was found for males reporting previous hospital admission for "rheumatoid arthritis". In this group, however, only 28% really had rheumatoid arthritis according to generally used criteria. The other diseases were mainly previous rheumatic fever and degenerative joint disease. It is concluded that males are harder hit by degenerative joint disease than females. The sample investigated had a lower mortality than the population from which it was sampled. The comparability of a fixed sample and a mean population found in official statistics is discussed. The non-response group was estimated to have a considerable excess mortality.