Outcome after 40 years with rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective study of function, disease activity, and mortality.

In an inception cohort of 100 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) we studied course and outcome after 40 years, regarding function, disease activity, cause and age of death, and prognostic factors. Function, joint count, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), hemoglobin (Hb), rheumatoid factor (RF), and the number of orthopedic operations were measured in 100 consecutive referrals between 1957 and 1963 with either definite or classical RA at one year after onset of symptoms. Subjects have been followed for a mean of 40 years, or until death.