title: Rheumatological disorder (RD) in Indian women above 40 years of age: A cross-sectional WHO-ILAR-COPCORD-based survey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate rheumatological profile among Indian women above 40 years.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional survey was carried out for a period of one year using pre-validated questionnaire of COPCORD/WHO-ILAR. Those who complain of pain, tenderness, stiffness or swelling were subjected to clinical evaluation and diagnosis was established using the ACR's criteria for various RDs.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age of the patients was 55.06 ± 6.82 years, mean age at menopause was 47.30 ± 2.50 years and the mean time since menopause was 9.077 ± 5.43 years. Among the total population evaluated (N = 130), 37.69% women presented with RD and 37.06% women among the menopausal women had RD with the most common being low backache (16.92%), followed by osteoarthritis (12.30%), fibromyalgia (3.84%) and rheumatoid arthritis (2.30%). The most common site involved was knee (9.23%) followed by lumbar spine (8.46%), hip (3.07%) and other sites (16.92%) such as neck, upper back, hand joints, shoulder, thighs, etc. Study failed to show any statistical correlation with any socio-demographic or other parameters of interest with RD. HAQ-DI (Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index) was found to be highly significant (P < 0.000) in 13.84% women when correlated with RD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of RD is substantially high among Indian women above 40 years demanding attention of health care providers.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Susheel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kudial
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Vishal R
authors.initials: VR
authors.lastname: Tandon
authors.affiliation: Department of General Medicine, Government Medical College, Jammu, Jammu and Kashmir, India.
authors.forename: Annil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mahajan
keywords: Advancing age; COPCORD; WHO-ILAR; menopause; rheumatic disorders