Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

The aim of this study is to determine the prevalence of rheumatic diseases in population aged 15 and over in Fasham-Shemiranat a mountainous rural area near Tehran, , The sampling method was house to house screening in villages of Fasham,

Using the Community Oriented Program for Control 'of Rheumatic

Diseases (COPCORD) core questionaire, 2502 persons were screened.

In phase 1 , key questions concerned the presence of pain in neck dorsum, low back, sacrum and peripheral joints within the last 2 weeks or disabilities caused by pain in these regions or presence of pain in the past, lasting more than 6 weeks in these regions as well as questions regarding history of pain in great toes along with swelling or redness, subsiding within 2 weeks. Positive respondents for any of above questions entered phase 2 of the study which consisted of clinical examination, laboratory tests and X-ray studies. 1146 (45.8%) were negative cases in phase 1, Of 1358(54.2%) positive respondents, 282 (20.7%) no longer had complaints and therefore negative examinations. There were 251 (18.4%) drop_outs because of loss of follow up or lack of cooperation.

In 825 cases (32.9%) one or more rheumatic conditions were diagnosed according to standard criteria. The prevalence of conditions was estimated as follows: Low back pain= 18.5% , Osteoarthritis (peripheral joints only) = 16.1%, Neck pain=6.4% , Periarthritis of snouider» 5%, other soft tissue conditions (tendinitis, elbow epicondylitis, carpal tunnel syndrome) =4.6%, Fibromyalgia= 1.3% , Rheumatoid arthritis = 0.32%, history of gouty attacks=0.28%, Psoriatic arthritis and Reiter's syndrome= 0.0£3010 .

In conclusion, this study shows high prevalence of rheumatic conditions in a rural area with much higher prevalence rate of low back pain, osteoarthritis and other soft tissue conditions compared to low prevalence of inflammatory arthritis such es rheumatoid arthritis.