Differences in rates of remission between rheumatoid factor positive and negative rheumatoid arthritis patients: experience from a resource-limited setting.

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease of the joints with occasional involvement of extra-articular organs. Although rheumatoid factor (RF) is associated with more severe baseline disease severity and a higher incidence of extraarticular diseases, whether it predicts response to treatment in patients taking conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) is unclear as evidence has so far been conflicting.

Methods: A 3-year (January 2021 to December 2023) multicenter retrospective cohort study was done at 1 public and 4 private hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.