Burden of rheumatological disorders in a tertiary care hospital

T To evaluate the frequency of different rheumatological disorders in patients visiting a tertiary care centre.

The retrospective analysis was conducted at the Rheumatology Clinic of Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, and comprised prospectively collected data of patients with different musculoskeletal disorders from February 2004 to February 2014. Detailed history, examination and laboratory investigations were recorded in a pre-designed structured proforma. The frequency, demographic characteristics and associated co-morbidities were studied. SPSS 17 was used for statistical analysis.

Of the 603 patients whose data was analysed, 460(76.3%) were women and 143(23.7%) were men. Overall mean age of the patients was 35.2±12 years. Rheumatoid arthritis was diagnosed in 458(76%) patients, systemic lupus erythematosus in 42(7%) ankylosing spondylitis in 32(5.3%), mixed connective tissue disease in 22(3.6%) and scleroderma in 12(2%) patients.

Rheumatological disorders constitute a major disease burden in a relatively young population of patients. RA was the most common disorder seen in our clinic, as seen elsewhere also, followed by SLE, AS, MCTD, etc.