title: The global burden of rheumatoid arthritis: estimates from the global burden of disease 2010 study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the global burden of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), as part of the Global Burden of Disease 2010 study of 291 conditions and how the burden of RA compares with other conditions.
  
  
  METHODS
  The optimum case definition of RA for the study was the American College of Rheumatology 1987 criteria. A series of systematic reviews were conducted to gather age-sex-specific epidemiological data for RA prevalence, incidence and mortality. Cause-specific mortality data were also included. Data were entered into DisMod-MR, a tool to pool available data, making use of study-level covariates to adjust for country, region and super-region random effects to estimate prevalence for every country and over time. The epidemiological data, in addition to disability weights, were used to calculate years of life lived with disability (YLDs). YLDs were added to the years of life lost due to premature mortality to estimate the overall burden (disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)) for RA for the years 1990, 2005 and 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The global prevalence of RA was 0.24% (95% CI 0.23% to 0.25%), with no discernible change from 1990 to 2010. DALYs increased from 3.3 million (M) (95% CI 2.6 M to 4.1 M) in 1990 to 4.8 M (95% CI 3.7 M to 6.1 M) in 2010. This increase was due to a growth in population and increase in aging. Globally, of the 291 conditions studied, RA was ranked as the 42nd highest contributor to global disability, just below malaria and just above iodine deficiency (measured in YLDs).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  RA continues to cause modest global disability, with severe consequences in the individuals affected.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone & Joint Research, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Marita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cross
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone & Joint Research, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Damian
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoy
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Salud Musculoesquelética (InMusc), Calle Hilarión Eslava, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Loreto
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4401-2551
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carmona
authors.affiliation: National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases, Wichita, Kansas, USA.
authors.forename: Frederick
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wolfe
authors.affiliation: School of Population Health, University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Theo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Vos
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of New South Wales, St George Clinical School, Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Foundation, Rochester, Minnesota, USA.
authors.forename: Sherine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gabriel
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of NSW, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Department of Rheumatology, St George Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Marissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lassere
authors.affiliation: Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Johns
authors.affiliation: Monash Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Cabrini Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: Rachelle
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Buchbinder
authors.affiliation: Department of Rheumatology, Royal Cornwall Hospital, Truro, UK.
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Woolf
authors.affiliation: Institute of Bone & Joint Research, University of Sydney, Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Lyn
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: March
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000401:mortality / Q000503:physiopathology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D017281:Cost of Illness; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D019057:Quality-Adjusted Life Years; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution; D055815:Young Adult