Determination of the prevalence of spondylarthropathies (SAP) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) among Finno-Ugrian population of Russia.
A one stage expedition trial was made of representative samples of Mordovian and Mari populations including 1312 citizens aged over 14 years.
Incidence rate of SAP among Mordovian and Mari examinees was 0.7 and 0.2%, respectively, ankylosing spondylitis being most frequent finding. RA occurred in 2.5 and 0.6%, respectively. All the RA cases were females without family history of this disease.
SAP and RA prevalence among Mordovian and Mari populations was high but their course is more favorable than among other population of Russia.