[Criterios utilizados por médicos de atención primaria para el diagnóstico y derivación al reumatólogo del paciente con artritis reumatoide].

Introduction: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), an important cause of disability, affects 1% of the population. Early diagnosis and referral to a rheumatologist are positive prognostic factor but diagnosis in many cases is in the hands of primary care physicians (PCP).

Objective: To determine the criteria used by PCP for diagnosis of RA and referral of these patients to a rheumatologist; to evaluate how many cases can be classified as RA according to the ACR.

Methods: Retrospective study of 530 patients referred by PCP and seen as outpatients at a rheumatology clinic in 2002. Patients with referral diagnosis of RA were identified and symptoms, signs, functional capacity and ACR criteria for RA were evaluated by 2 rheumatologists.

Results: 302 patients had a referral diagnosis of RA, 33 male (10.9%) and 269 female (89.1%), median age 50.5 years, with a median time since diagnosis of 45.2 months. 57.9% had FC stage II. 100% of cases had "generalized" joint pain, 67.5% arthritis of 3 or more joints and 51.7% arthritis of hand joints. Arthritis was symmetrical in 58.9% and 77.2% of the patients had morning stiffness (> 30 min). 49.7% of the cases had positive rheumatoid factor, 19.2% had a negative RF and 31.1% had none reported. In 2% ESR was measured. X-ray erosions were reported in 6.6% of cases. When using the ACR criteria, 17.8% of patients had 1, 28.7% had 2 and 53.5% had 3 or more criteria. In only 59 cases (20%) did the rheumatologist agree with the referral diagnosis of RA.

Conclusions: 80% of PCP referrals of RA to the rheumatologist were another disease. A poor clinical evaluation and little support from laboratory and x-rays was noticed. The delay in diagnosis and referral was 3 years, worsening prognosis. A vigorous effort in educating PCP is needed to achieve early diagnosis and referral of RA cases.