Clinical manifestations and disease activity score of rheumatoid arthritis in southeast of Iran

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis has a non-homogeneous pattern around the world. The current study aimed to describe the clinical manifestations and disease activity of rheumatoid arthritis patients in southeastern Iran. In this descriptive, cross-sectional study with convenience sampling, data regarding the demographics, painful joints, number of swollen and tender joints, ESR, disease activity, and therapeutic regimen of 500 patients with rheumatoid arthritis who referred to the Rheumatology Clinic of Ali Ebn Abitaleb Hospital between October 2012 and October 2013 was collected using a data form. After collection, the data was analyzed using SPSS version 16. Of the 500 studied cases, 437 cases (87.4%) were female and 63 cases (12.6%) were male. Average patient age was 48.78 ± 13.97 years, and the mean duration of the disease was 7.28 ± 7.14 years. The mean value of disease activity score-28 (DAS-28) was 3.54 ± 1.38. The DAS-28 in 30.25% of cases was below 2.6, while in 14.7% of cases it was greater than 5.1. The knee (49.6%) and the wrist (36.6%) were the most prevalent painful joints, and 375 patients complained of morning stiffness. The most frequent therapeutic regimens were prednisolone (81%), methotrexate (62.4%), hydroxychloroquine (60.8%), sulfasalazine (24%), and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) (22.2%). Based on the results of this study, the mean value of DAS-28 of 3.54 ± 1.38 implies disease activity in most cases in southeastern Iran. This indicates that changing therapy regimens is necessary.