The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey.
The study was carried out between March 2003 and March 2005 by the Karadeniz Technical University Medical Faculty Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the urban area in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey, which has a population of 459021 (according to the 2000 national census). A total of 6103 subjects, 20 years old or over, were selected by the sampling method; 3023 (49.5%) women and 3080 (50.5%) men were included in the study. The diagnosis of RA was performed based on fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria.
Fifty-nine patients were diagnosed with RA according to the ACR criteria, of which 11 were male and 48 female. The prevalence of RA was 1% (95% CI: 0.75-1.25) in the general population, 1.6% (95% CI: 1.15-2.05) in women and 0.35% (95% CI: 0.14-0.56) in men. The female/male ratio was 4.3 : 1.0, showing that RA prevalence was statistically significantly higher in women (P <0.005).
Our study demonstrates that RA is a common disease in Turkish society.