Open AccessA four year follow‐up of suspected rheumatoid arthritis: The Tecumseh, Michigan, community health study
Author(s) -
Mikkelsen William M.,
Dodge Horace
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
arthritis & rheumatism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1529-0131
pISSN - 0004-3591
DOI - 10.1002/art.1780120205
Subject(s) - rheumatoid arthritis , medicine , arthritis , prospective cohort study , physical therapy , disease , demography , sociology
Of 563 individuals suspected of having rheumatoid arthritis when examined in 1959‐1960, only 402, or 71.4 per cent, participated in the Tecumseh, Michigan, Community Health Study of 1962‐1965. Of the 402, when classified by similar criteria, only 107, or 26.6 per cent, maintained their former classification as to degree of certainty of presence of rheumatoid arthritis, while 200, or 49.8 per cent, showed no evidence of the disease. The results illustrate some of the difficulties and uncertainties of prospective studies.