Alawneh Khaldoon M, Madanat Wafa Y, Alawneh Diala, Smadi Mahmoud S
King Abdullah University Hospital, Department of Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan.
Private Rheumatology Clinic, Amman, Jordan.
Ann Med Surg (Lond). 2020 Nov 25;60:579-582. doi: 10.1016/j.amsu.2020.11.043. eCollection 2020 Dec.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune inflammatory arthritis in adults. Prevalence estimates of rheumatoid arthritis vary in the world. Occupational factors and geographical location might contribute to a higher risk of developing the disease, however the exact etiology remains unknown.The aim of our study was to estimate the prevalence of RA among hospital workers in the North of Jordan and to compare this prevalence with that in the general population. In addition to describing the characteristics of RA patients.
The study was performed in two stages; during the first stage a specially designed questionnaire was conducted by trained residents with 2569 hospital workers from 6 government hospitals to identify individuals with RA. Suspected individuals of having RA identified in stage one were invited and examined further by two rheumatologists for confirmation of the diagnosis.
A total of 2569 employees were interviewed; among them 1240 (48.5%) were males and 1318 (51.5%) were females. The mean (SD) age was 34±(8.4) years. In the second stage the diagnosis of RA according to ACR criteria 1987 was confirmed in 8 individuals (2 males and 6 females). Male: Female (M: F) ratio was 1:3 with mean (SD) age 43.38 (7.52) years. The estimated prevalence of RA among hospital workers in the North of Jordan was 8/2569 = 0.00311, 31.1:10.000, 0.31%, (95% confidence interval, 9.6-52.7:10.000).
The prevalence of RA among hospital workers in the North of Jordan is 0.31%, similar to that of other parts of Jordan and neighboring regions.
类风湿性关节炎（RA）是成人中最常见的自身免疫性炎性关节炎。类风湿性关节炎的患病率估计在全球范围内各不相同。职业因素和地理位置可能会增加患该病的风险，但其确切病因仍然未知。我们研究的目的是估计约旦北部医院工作人员中类风湿性关节炎的患病率，并将该患病率与普通人群的患病率进行比较。此外，还要描述类风湿性关节炎患者的特征。
该研究分两个阶段进行；在第一阶段，由经过培训的住院医生对来自6家政府医院的2569名医院工作人员进行了专门设计的问卷调查，以确定患有类风湿性关节炎的个体。在第一阶段被确定为疑似患有类风湿性关节炎的个体被邀请，并由两名风湿病学家进行进一步检查以确诊。
共采访了2569名员工；其中1240名（48.5%）为男性，1318名（51.5%）为女性。平均（标准差）年龄为34±（8.4）岁。在第二阶段，根据1987年美国风湿病学会（ACR）标准确诊了8例类风湿性关节炎患者（2例男性和6例女性）。男女比例为1:3，平均（标准差）年龄为43.38（7.52）岁。约旦北部医院工作人员中类风湿性关节炎的估计患病率为8/2569 = 0.00311，即31.1:10000，0.31%，（95%置信区间，9.6 - 52.7:10000）。
约旦北部医院工作人员中类风湿性关节炎的患病率为0.31%，与约旦其他地区和邻近地区相似。
