| Summary: | Objectives: This study aims to estimate the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthritis (SpA) in Turkey using the same telephone questionnaire developed for screening RA and SpA in France and used in Serbia and Lithuania. Material and methods: The study was performed in two steps. In step I, the French questionnaire was translated into Turkish and validated through a group of 200 patients (80 males, 120 females; mean age 44.0 +/- 13.1 years; range, 19 to 75 years) followed up at the rheumatology departments of University Hospitals in Antalya and Ankara. In step II, the validated Turkish questionnaire was administered face-to-face to randomly selected 4,012 subjects (1,670 males, 2,342 females; mean age 41.5 +/- 16.8 years; range, 16 to 97 years) by trained general practitioners across the country, in 25 provinces for case detection. The subjects who were suspected of having RA or SpA in accordance with the questionnaire were invited to the nearest university hospital for rheumatologic examination in order to confirm the diagnosis. Results: In step II, a total of 25 subjects (2 males, 23 females) were diagnosed as RA. The standardized RA prevalence for the general population of Turkey was calculated as 0.56% (95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.33-0.79), 0.10% (95% CI; -0.05-0.25) for males and 0.89% (95% CI; 0.51-1.27) for females. A total of 18 subjects (3 males, 15 females) were diagnosed as SpA. The standardized SpA prevalence for the general population of Turkey was 0.46% (95% CI; 0.25-0.67), 0.17% (95% CI; -0.03-0.37) for males and 0.65% (95% CI; 0.32-0.98) for females. The prevalence of RA was highest in the Northern region (2.00%) and the prevalence of SpA was highest in the Central region (1.49%). Conclusion: The prevalences of RA and SpA in Turkey are close to each other and there are significant inter-regional variations in prevalences of both RA and SpA. C1 [Tuncer, Tiraje; Kacar, Cahit; Butun, Bulent] Akdeniz Univ, Sch Med, Div Rheumatol, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Antalya, Turkey. [Kurtais, Yesim; Kutlay, Sehim; Yalcin, Peyman] Ankara Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Ankara, Turkey. [Akarirmak, Ulku] Istanbul Univ, Sch Cerrahpasa Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Istanbul, Turkey. [Altan, Lale] Uludag Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Bursa, Turkey. [Ardic, Fusun] Pamukkale Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Denizli, Turkey. [Ardicoglu, Ozge] Yildirim Beyazit Univ, Sch Med, Div Rheumatol, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Ankara, Turkey. [Altay, Zuhal] Inonu Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Malatya, Turkey. [Canturk, Ferhan] Medilife Hlth Grp, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Istanbul, Turkey. [Cerrahoglu, Lale] Celal Bayar Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Manisa, Turkey. [Cevik, Remzi] Dicle Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Diyarbakir, Turkey. [Demir, Huseyin; Kirnap, Mehmet] Erciyes Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Kayseri, Turkey. [Durmaz, Berrin] Ege Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Izmir, Turkey. [Dursun, Nigar] Kocaeli Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Kocaeli, Turkey. [Duruoz, Tuncay; Kayhan, Onder] Marmara Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Istanbul, Turkey. [Erdogan, Canan] Mersin Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Mersin, Turkey. [Evcik, Deniz] Ufuk Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Ankara, Turkey. [Gursoy, Savas] Gaziantep Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Gaziantep, Turkey. [Hizmetli, Sami; Kaptanoglu, Ece] Cumhuriyet Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Div Rheumatol, Sivas, Turkey. [Kokino, Siranus] Trakya Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Edirne, Turkey. [Kozanoglu, Erkan; Sarpel, Tunay] Cukurova Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Adana, Turkey. [Kuran, Banu] Sisli Etfal Hamidiye Educ & Res Hosp, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Istanbul, Turkey. [Nas, Kemal; Tekeoglu, Ibrahim] Sakarya Univ, Sch Med, Div Rheumatol, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Sakarya, Turkey. [Oncel, Sema] Dokuz Eylul Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Izmir, Turkey. [Sindel, Dilsad] Istanbul Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Istanbul, Turkey. [Orkun, Sevim] Beyazpinar Phys Therapy & Rehabil Ctr, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Ankara, Turkey. [Savas, Serpil] Suleyman Demirel Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Isparta, Turkey. [Sendur, Omer Faruk] Adnan Menderes Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Aydin, Turkey. [Senel, Kazim] Ataturk Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Erzurum, Turkey. [Ugurlu, Hatice] Necmettin Erbakan Univ, Sch Med, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Konya, Turkey. [Uzunca, Kaan] Medikent Hosp, Dept Phys Med & Rehabil, Kirklareli, Turkey. [Guillemin, Francis] Univ Lorraine, Fac Med, APEMAC, Directeur EA 4360, Nancy, France.
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