Pattern, frequency and management outcome of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, Sudan.

Abstract

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the most prevalent chronic arthritis in children and is a leading cause of disability. The clinical profile of JIA shows wide range of variation .This study aimed to describe demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics, treatment regimen and outcome of JIA patients in Sudanese children. Cross sectional hospital based study was conducted at Rheumatology Clinic, Ahmed Gasim Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan, covering 81 patients from October 2019 to March 2020. Data were extracted from the patient records, and then re-entered into a predesigned data collection form. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 24. P value of 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant. A total of 81 JIA patients were included in the study (54 females, 27 males) with female: male ratio 2:1 among all subtypes. Of the study population 58% were above 10 years of age. Polyarticular JIA was the predominant subtype (63%) followed by systemic onset JIA (22.2%), then oligoarticular (12.3%) and lastly spondiloarthropathies (2.5%). Clinically, morning stiffness was the most common presenting symptom (98.8%) and knee joint (82.7%) was the most frequently affected. Rheumatoid factor and anti-nuclear antibody were positive among 30.9% and 46.9% of the study participant, respectively. Remission rate was 39.5% and it is affected by RF and treatment regimen, being RF positive associated with lower remission rate while use of combined two drug therapy was associated with higher remission rate. A population based study rather than a single center study will provide more information about JIA characteristics in Sudan.