The prevalence of juvenile arthritis

A secondary analysis of two new large practitioner surveys, one national and one local, showed the prevalence of juvenile arthritis to be between 0.16 and 0.43 cases per 1,000 children. These rates compare quite closely with the majority of reports both in the United States and the world. We believe the prevalence of juvenile arthritis is between 0.2 and 1 case per 1,000 children (13,000--63,000 children), with the best estimate being about 0.5 cases per 1,000 children. Based on the 1980 census data, this latter estimate means there are approximately 32,00 children with juvenile arthritis in the United States.