• Bogdan Batko, Marcin Stajszczyk, Jerzy Świerkot, Karol Urbański, Filip Raciborski, Mariusz Jędrzejewski, and Piotr Wiland.
• Department of Rheumatology, J. Dietl Specialist Hospital, Krakow, Poland.
• Arch Med Sci. 2019 Jan 1; 15 (1): 134-140.

IntroductionThere are no reliable data regarding the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Poland.Material And MethodsThe first stage was a face-to-face survey on a nationwide representative sample of 3000 people, which identified respondents with a physician-confirmed diagnosis of RA. The second stage was a survey of RA patients, which characterized the disease course and treatment. It was evaluated by analysis of a representative group of 1957 RA patients in routine clinical practice.ResultsThe overall RA prevalence in Poland was 0.9% (95% CI: 0.6-1.2%), 1.06% for women, 0.74% for men. Seventy-eight percent were female, mean age was 56 and mean disease duration 7 years. Younger patients (< 50) remained professionally active in 90% of cases. Thirty percent of patients were diagnosed within 3 months of the first RA symptoms, while for 17% it took more than 1 year. Fifty-six percent of newly diagnosed patients were characterized by high disease activity (DAS-28 > 5.1). Presently, low disease activity (DAS-28 < 3.2) was found in 38.5% of patients. In Poland, 94% of patients have been treated with non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, almost 80% with glucocorticoids. Meanwhile, methotrexate, as an anchor drug in Poland, has been used by 80% of patients, biological agents by 2.94% of patients.ConclusionsThis is the first cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study regarding prevalence of RA in the adult Polish population. The results demonstrate a high prevalence, falling within the upper boundary estimates for Europe. Despite ongoing treatment, the majority still have moderate to high disease activity, and the use of biological therapies is low.

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