Skip to main content
PMC home page
Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases logoLink to Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases
. 1986 Aug;45(8):691–695. doi: 10.1136/ard.45.8.691

A population study on rheumatoid arthritis in Lesotho, southern Africa.

J D Moolenburgh, H A Valkenburg, P B Fourie
PMCID: PMC1001969  PMID: 3740998

Abstract

Motivated by the results of a hospital study on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Lesotho (southern Africa) a survey of inflammatory polyarthritis (IP) and RA was undertaken in a sample of the rural population of that country. Contrary to expectations the prevalence of IP grades 2-4 (definite disease) was low (0.4%) and equal in both sexes, while probable and definite RA combined (American Rheumatism Association (ARA) criteria) occurred in 1.8% of both males and females. RA was slightly more severe than in other rural African Negro studies but less so when compared with the disease condition of the patients observed in the hospital study. Rheumatoid factor and particularly that directed against heterologous antigen occurred in 41% of the RA patients and in 16% of the controls. Two thirds of the definite cases and 29% of the combined probable and definite group showed radiological abnormalities.

Full text

PDF
694

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bagg L. R., Hansen D. P., Lewis C., Houba V. Rheumatoid arthritis in Kenya. I. Clinical observations. Ann Rheum Dis. 1979 Feb;38(1):23–25. doi: 10.1136/ard.38.1.23. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Beighton P., Solomon L., Valkenburg H. A. Rheumatoid arthritis in a rural South African Negro population. Ann Rheum Dis. 1975 Apr;34(2):136–141. doi: 10.1136/ard.34.2.136. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DIAGNOSTIC criteria for rheumatoid arthritis: 1958 revision by a committee of the American Rheumatism Association. Ann Rheum Dis. 1959 Mar;18(1):49–53. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gelfand M. "Medical" arthritis in African practice. Cent Afr J Med. 1969 Jun;15(6):131–135. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Gochman N., Schmitz J. M. Automated determination of uric acid, with use of a uricase-peroxidase system. Clin Chem. 1971 Dec;17(12):1154–1159. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Greenwood B. M. Polyarthritis in Western Nigeria. I. Rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1969 Sep;28(5):488–496. doi: 10.1136/ard.28.5.488. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. KELLGREN J. H. Diagnostic criteria for population studies. Bull Rheum Dis. 1962 Nov;13:291–292. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kanyerezi B. R., Baddeley H., Kisumba D. Rheumatoid arthritis in Ugandan Africans. Ann Rheum Dis. 1970 Nov;29(6):617–621. doi: 10.1136/ard.29.6.617. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. LAWRENCE J. S. Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis. Ann Rheum Dis. 1961 Mar;20:11–17. doi: 10.1136/ard.20.1.11. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Meyers O. L., Daynes G., Beighton P. Rheumatoid arthritis in a tribal Xhosa population in the Transkei, Southern Africa. Ann Rheum Dis. 1977 Feb;36(1):62–65. doi: 10.1136/ard.36.1.62. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Moolenburgh J. D., Moore S., Valkenburg H. A., Erasmus M. G. Rheumatoid arthritis in Lesotho. Ann Rheum Dis. 1984 Feb;43(1):40–43. doi: 10.1136/ard.43.1.40. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Solomon L., Robin G., Valkenburg H. A. Rheumatoid arthritis in an urban South African Negro population. Ann Rheum Dis. 1975 Apr;34(2):128–135. doi: 10.1136/ard.34.2.128. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES