In our study 316 patients were questioned who presented with the
complaint of joint pain. The ages in the collected data were
computed in sets of decades, of which patients in 3 rd, 4th and 5th
decade of life were significantly affected viz., 19.9% (n=63),
35.8% (n= 113), 23.4% (n=74), respectively. Majority of these
people fell into the category of literate society 67.1% (n=212) in
comparison to the illiterate category 32.9% (n=104). After
computing the patients scores according to the diagnostic
guidelines of American College of Rheumatology (2010
ACR/EULAR Rheumatoid Arthritis Classification Criteria) 19, this
study showed that the higher percentage of population
approaching to the outpatient were mostly females diagnosed of
rheumatoid arthritis 26.9% (n=85) in contrast to males (n=25). Of
them, 83.2% patients were taking analgesics by self-medication
and 16.0% patients got immunosuppressive therapy. 7.9%
patients showed positive family history for rheumatoid arthritis.
An independent sample t-test was performed which showed the
difference in the occurrence of rheumatoid arthritis in both male
and female patients. This test was statistically significant (t=2.98,
p=0.002). Levenes test also showed significant figures
(F(233)=5.315, p=0.002). The results indicate females (M=4.41,
SD=1.50) having high rates of joint pain than males (M=3.86,
SD= 1.28). The difference in the mean between female and male
was 0.522 with a confidence interval of 95% ranged from 0.21 to
0.89, as shown in the Table 1.
Table 1
Independent Samples T-test (n = 316)
Females
Education
Level
Males
SD
SD
df
4.41
1.50
3.386
1.28
314
2.98
<.005