Experiences from a prospective early rheumatoid arthritis study in southern Sweden

Characteristics of an ongoing longitudinal observational study of patients with established rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are described. The sample comprised 183 patients enrolled from 1985 to 1989. Disease duration at inclusion was 1 year. Patients were referred from primary care and were included in the study irrespective of disease severity, with evaluation at a team care unit every 6 to 12 months. The assessment comprised a broad spectrum of standardized measures that covered the potentially most important disease outcomes. After 10 years the dropout rate was only 3%. Results to date from this study are summarized. Findings include disease course and remission rate, physical function, radiographic progression, hip involvement, mortality, work disability, and economic consequences.