title: Prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the eastern Black Sea region of Turkey.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
  
  
  RESULTS
  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).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrates that RA is a common disease in Turkish society.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Public Health, Karadeniz Technical University, Medical School, Farabi Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey. drcapkin@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Erhan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capkin
authors.forename: Haşim
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cakirbay
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karkucak
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Topbas
authors.forename: Münevver
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Serdaroğlu
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Guler
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tosun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D059038:Black Sea; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D017678:Sex Distribution; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult