Inadequate information is available on the care burden and severity of rheumatological diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis in West Africa. We therefore studied patients with rheumatoid arthritis presenting to a rheumatology unit in Nigeria and compared these with patients presenting to a British rheumatology unit. The West African patients were younger at onset of disease, less frequently had a family history, showed fewer extra-articular features and erosions and were less commonly rheumatoid factor positive. The overall mildness of the disease in the West Africans was striking.
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