Progression pattern of rheumatoid arthritis: A study of 500 Pakistani patients

To estimate the most prevalent age of patients and disease status and progression in terms of severity at different age groups in the Pakistani Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients. A total of five hundred (500) RA patients were enrolled during October, 2009 to October, 2013. A screening questionnaire was filled for each patient satisfying America College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria under the supervision of certified rheumatologists. Epidemiological and demographic variables were statistically analyzed for correlation with progression of the disease using SPSS ver 17.0.1 software. In general, rheumatoid arthritis preferentially affects women with female to male ratio of about 3:1; however, patients with above 60 years of age have equal female to male ratio. The most prevalent age is 45-60 years. The disease severity increases with increase in the age and reaches to its peak in above 60 years of age (p=0.001). The pattern of progression of RA in the Pakistani patients is almost consistent with other relevant studies conducted on European and European derived populations.