Prevalence and incidence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children in the republic of Bashkortostan: the epidemiological study

Methods Four towns and two rural districts of the Republic of Bashkortostan were chosen for the questionnaire. The total number of the childhood population was 50442 children under 17 years of age. Totally 43907 children or their parents were examined with the help of the screening questionnaire. The parents were questioned by medical nurses during consulting reception hours, or in kindergartens, or at school. The children aged between 11 and 17 years answered the question list on their own. The screening questionnaire included two questions: 1. Did you observe any pain in joints of your child? 2. Did you observe any swelling in joints of your child? Hereinafter 368 children were included into the investigation, their parents having answered the question positively about the presence of joint swelling for the last year. 303 children (82.3 %) were examined in all. Blood tests, joint radiography and medical examination by rheumatologist were held to all the children. The rest of 65 children did not come to the children’s polyclinic for the extra check-up and consultation.