Rheumatoid arthritis functional disability in a public health care clinic

Abstract

Median scores for public and private health care patients with RA in the USA range between 1 and 1.25 3 compared with 1.6 for South African public health care patients, 4 indicating more severe disability in our public health care sector. Although the goal of health care for patients with RA is to maximise functioning in everyday life, functional disability is rarely assessed in South African public health care facilities. Owing to staff shortages and resources, patient overload and poor staff morale in South African public health facilities, routine administration of the HAQ-DI by existing staff is extremely difficult to implement. We administered the HAQ-DI to a consecutive sample of 108 outpatients with RA at Pretoria Academic Hospital.