RESEARCH ARTICLE


Prevalence of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the Southern Part of Denmark



Jens K Pedersen*, Anders J Svendsen, Kim Hørslev-Petersen
Research Unit, King Christian X Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Toldbodgade 3, 6300 Graasten, Denmark


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Creative Commons License
© Pedersen et al.; Licensee Bentham Open.

open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.

* Address correspondence to this author at the Research Unit, King Christian X Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Toldbodgade 3, 6300 Graasten, Denmark; Tel: +45-73654000; Fax: +45-73652002; E-mail: jensk@dadlnet.dk


Abstract

The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in the southern part of Denmark. Using a screening questionnaire, telephone interview, register data, and a clinical examination cases were ascertained from a random sample of 4995 individuals over the age of 15. As case definition we used the original and modified 1987 American College of Rheumatology classification criteria. The overall point prevalence was 0.26% (95% confidence interval: 0.13-0.39) in the total sample and 0.35% (95% confidence interval: 0.17-0.52) among the responders; the cumulative prevalence was 0.75% (95% confidence interval: 0.52-0.97) in the total sample and 0.92% (95% confidence interval: 0.62-1.21) among the responders.

The cumulative prevalence was higher than in other studies combining the results of a survey with register data. The point prevalence was underestimated due to low participation rate in the clinical examination and remission among the participants.

Keywords: Rheumatoid arthritis, prevalence, survey, registers..