Elsevier

Autoimmunity Reviews

Volume 4, Issue 3, March 2005, Pages 130-136
Autoimmunity Reviews

Epidemiology of adult rheumatoid arthritis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autrev.2004.09.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Several incidence and prevalence studies of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have been reported during the last decades, suggesting a considerable variation of the disease occurrence among different populations. The majority of studies curried out in Northern European and North American areas estimate a prevalence of 0.5–1%, and a mean annual incidence of 0.02–0.05%. The occurrence of the disease seems to be lower in other parts of the world. Some studies from North American, North European, and Japanese populations suggest a decline in both the prevalence and incidence of the disease after the 1960s. RA is related to an increased mortality, and the expected survival of RA patients is likely to decrease 3–10 years. There is epidemiological evidence that genetic factors are related to an increased risk of RA. However, RA is considered to be a multifactorial disease, resulting from the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors, which contribute to its occurrence and expression. The main risk factors for the disease include genetic susceptibility, sex and age, smoking, infectious agents, hormonal, dietary, socioeconomic, and ethnic factors. Most of these factors are likely to be associated with both disease occurrence and severity.

Introduction

The study of the epidemiological profile of a specific disease includes its frequency, severity, and distribution among different populations and human groups (descriptive epidemiology), as well as the influence of genetic and environmental factors on the occurrence and variation of the disease (analytical epidemiology risk factors). The study of the association of the disease with some personal characteristics, such as age, gender, racial or social group, and others is in the limit between descriptive and analytical epidemiology. In this review, we consider those factors as potential risk factors for rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Section snippets

Descriptive epidemiology

RA is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the synovium, leading to joint damage and bone destruction and causes severe disability and increases mortality [1]. Several incidence and prevalence studies of RA have been reported during the last decades, suggesting a considerable variation of the disease occurrence among different populations. However, the studies published on RA epidemiology present methodological differences. These differences include the methods of case identification and

Risk factors

A risk factor is any factor (genetic, environmental, or personal) that increases the risk of developing a disease. There is a general consensus that RA is a multifactorial disease, resulting from the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors, which contribute to its occurrence and expression.

Several environmental factors have been suspected and studied as possibly related to an increased risk of RA, as well as to a worse or improved prognosis of the disease. However, the impact of

Conclusions

Significant variations of RA incidence and prevalence have been observed among different populations. It seems that there is a relative decrease in the disease occurrence during the last decades. There is a general consensus that RA is a multifactorial disease, resulting from the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors, which contribute to its occurrence and expression (Fig. 1). Several risk factors for RA have been suggested. They include genetic susceptibility, sex, age,

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