Rheumatoid arthritis in Kenya. I. Clinical observations

76 Kenyan Africans with classical or definite rheumatoid arthritis are described. Their age, sex ratio, and pattern of joint involvement closely resembled that seen in Europe and the USA and differed from that described in West Africa and rural South Africa. However, they showed a marked lack of systemic nonarticular complications, with relatively little functional incapacity. Radiological grading was carried out on 58 cases, and the changes were found to resemble more closely those seen in an English series than in a Nigerian series.