Rheumatoid arthritis diagnoses often delayed in China, survey shows

By Cai Wenjun | October 28, 2013, Monday |

Online Edition

IT usually takes about 2.5 years for Chinese patients with rheumatoid arthritis to get a correct diagnosis, according to a new international survey.

Yet half of untreated patients with RA will be disabled within two years and 70 percent become disabled within three years, experts said.

About 40 percent of Chinese patients said their disease was not well controlled, according to an international survey launched by pharmaceutical company AbbVie, covering over 10,000 patients from 42 countries and regions including China.

Dr Li Ting from Shanghai's Renji Hospital said delayed diagnoses and incorrect therapy are the major reasons for patients' disability.

The incidence of RA is 2 to 4 per thousand in China. Now there are about 5 million RA patients in the nation.

RA is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects healthy joints, results in joint pain, stiffness, fatigue and disability and eventually loss of joint function. Most patients are between 25 and 55 years old and female patients outnumber male patients three to one.

Nation

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Rheumatoid arthritis diagnoses often delayed in China, survey shows

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