Efforts to increase public awareness may result in more timely diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis.

Background: Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have previously been found to have a long delay to diagnosis and low utilization of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Over the past 5 years, support groups, awareness programs, and public campaigns have been instituted in the region.

Aim: This study aimed to assess whether such initiatives have affected the lag to diagnosis previously observed.