Epidemiological studies on medical care for rheumatism in Latin American countries.

Rheumatic diseases cause disability and dependency and require prolonged medical care. In countries where resources are scarce and access to the health care system is limited, studies documenting the relative impact of rheumatic diseases often take priority over the classical prevalence or etiologic study on individual rheumatic diseases. Simple studies on the profile of patients who utilize medical care provide information on the relative frequency of diseases for which medical care is sought, detail the impact of these diseases on functional capacity, and document the demand for medical care. Such studies have been performed in Latin American countries by the Pan American Health Organization and some preliminary results are shown.