title: The pattern of rheumatoid arthritis in West Africa and comparison with a cohort of British patients.
abstract: Inadequate information is available on the care burden and severity of rheumatological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis in West Africa. We therefore studied patients with rheumatoid arthritis presenting to a rheumatology unit in Nigeria and compared these with patients presenting to a British rheumatology unit. The West African patients were younger at onset of disease, less frequently had a family history, showed fewer extra-articular features and erosions and were less commonly rheumatoid factor positive. The overall mildness of the disease in the West Africans was striking.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Adebajo
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007596:Joints / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria / Q000208:ethnology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012217:Rheumatoid Factor / Q000032:analysis; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000208:ethnology
chemical_list: D012217:Rheumatoid Factor