Abstract:

Objective: To establish a clinical registry for Rheumatoid Arthritis and delineate the most common symptoms that rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients experience in our set up. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Study was carried out at Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi at Rheumatology Department during the period of Jan 2013 to Jun 2015. Material and Methods: A clinical registry for Rheumatoid Arthritis was developed as per criteria jointly developed by American College of Rheumatology (ACR) along with European League against Rheumatism (EULAR) (2010). Fifty-eight patients were registered after their informed consent and approval by Military Hospital (MH) Rawalpindi ethical committee. Age, gender and relevant clinical parameters of RA patients were recorded on case report forms and stored for analysis in the RA registry in Excel 2010. The figures were reported in frequencies and percentages. Results: Multiple joint pains (48.28%), fever (24.14%), morning stiffness of joints (22.41%) were the most common symptoms in RA patients. Other clinical manifestations included painful bilateral swollen joints (13.79%), pain in different parts of the body (10.34%), Raynaud’s phenomenon (10.34%), malaise (8.62%), swollen body parts (8.62%), ulcers (8.62%), fatigue (6.90%), nodules on skin/elbow/interphalangeal joints (6.90%), deformities of fingers/ hand (3.45%), redness of eyes (3.45%), body rash (3.45%), inability to walk (3.45%), cervical lymphadenopathy (1.72%), stiffness of spine (1.72%) and myalgias (1.72%). Conclusion: It is concluded that multiple joint pains, fever and morning stiffness of joints are the most common symptoms of RA patients.  

Keywords: