Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in a sample of the Turkish population

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Trabzon City, Turkey. This investigation was carried out between April 1999 and March 2000 by the Karadeniz Technical University Medical Faculty Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. A total of 1825 persons over 20 years old chosen by the sampling method: 959 (52.5%) females and 866 males (47.5%), were included in the study. With the assistance of questionnaires prepared according to the ARA-1987 criteria and the laboratory results, a diagnosis of RA was made in a total of 69 (3.7%) subjects: 53 women (76.8%) and 16 men (23.2%). The male/female ratio was 1/3.3. The RA prevalence in our community was higher than expected, but multicenter studies are necessary.