Abstract
Prevalence of disease, economics of care, and implications for payers, as told in charts.
Rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease, generally leads to significant pain, joint destruction, and functional decline. It is a significant cause of work disability. Although RA does not have a predictable progression, most patients with the disease require ongoing medical treatment to control symptoms.
Footnotes
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention relies on unpublished data from a 1985 RA prevalence study from Rochester, Minn., as the best basis for calculating prevalence of RA in the United States, though Helmick (2008) acknowledges that new epidemiologic studies are needed. Statistics estimating prevalence by gender were developed in 1995 and were not revised in the CDC’s 2005 recalculation.
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