Life events and the onset of rheumatoid arthritis

This study used the Life Events and Difficulties Schedule to assess whether an excess of life events occurred prior to onset of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in 60 consecutive out-patients. There was no evidence of an excess of events of any kind during the 12 months before onset of RA. There was no difference between seropositive and seronegative RA or between those with and without a family history. There was a non-significant trend for an excess of events before onset compared with after; this may be explained by the reduction of events after onset as a consequence of disabling disease. The prevalence of psychiatric disorder measured using the Psychiatric Assessment Schedule was 13.3% at the time of interview.