PREVALENCE OF INFLAMMATORY RHEUMATIC DISEASES IN AN ADOLESCENT URBAN STUDENT POPULATION, AGE 12 TO 18, IN BELGIUM

In order to determine the prevalence of inflammatory rheumatic disease s in an urban secondary school student population, a questionnaire dea ling with past or present joint, tendon, axial, gastrointestinal, ocul ar and dermatological symptoms was completed by 2,990 students of seco ndary schools in Antwerp and Ghent. The parents were asked to complete a questionnaire regarding the family medical history. From these 2,99 0 students, 524 were selected for further investigation by a rheumatol ogy resident, who checked the answers to the first questionnaire and p erformed a clinical examination. Forty-one adolescents with a presumpt ive history or present symptoms of inflammatory rheumatic diseases wer e retained. These students were examined by the medical staff of the r heumatology department; if necessary, a complementary biochemical and radiological examination was performed. Five cases of definite juvenil e chronic arthritis (JCA) (with polyarticular onset in 1 case and late pauciarticular onset in 4 cases) and 4 cases of presumptive late pauc iarticular onset JCA were detected, resulting in a prevalence of 167 p er 100,000 for definite JCA and of 301 per 100,000 for possible JCA. T his prevalence rate is higher than that generally described. This meth od of investigation effectively allows the detection of milder and spo ntaneously remitting cases of JCA. It further enabled us to detect one definite case and 4 presumptive cases of various previously undiagnos ed forms of JCA.