ReviewOpen access rheumatology : research and reviews2017
The journey of rheumatoid arthritis patients: a review of reported lag times from the onset of symptoms.
Review in Open access rheumatology : research and reviews, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- How do general practitioners diagnose and refer potential rheumatic musculoskeletal complaints? A scoping review.Clinical rheumatology · 2026Article
- The journey of Europeans with musculoskeletal complaints: the creation of the SPIDeRR's personas.EULAR rheumatology open · 2026Article
- Real-World Effectiveness of Biologic and Targeted Synthetic Therapies in Rheumatoid Arthritis: a Multicenter Study from Rheumatoid Arthritis Saudi Database (RASD).Open access rheumatology : research and reviews · 2026Article
- The patient journey in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: a systematic review.EULAR rheumatology open · 2025Article
- Early rheumatoid arthritis, two distinctive structural damage patterns revealed by MRI: an 8-year longitudinal study.European radiology · 2025Article
- The journey of patients with musculoskeletal complaints in Europe: a cross-sectional European survey.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- The impact of changes in fibromyalgia diagnosis criteria: using NAMCS data (2010-2019) to identify trends.BMC rheumatology · 2025Article
- Identification of Gaps in Quality of Care and Good Practice Interventions in Rheumatoid Arthritis: Insights From a Literature Review and Qualitative Study of Nine Centers in North America.ACR open rheumatology · 2024Article
- Opioid use surrounding diagnosis and follow-up in patients with ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and rheumatoid arthritis: Results from US claims databases.Clinical rheumatology · 2024Article
- Double positivity for rheumatoid factor and anti-CCP autoantibodies: improving referral from primary care of patients suspected of having rheumatoid arthritis.Primary health care research & development · 2024Observational
- First contact physiotherapists: are they able to reduce the burden on rheumatology services? A critical review of the evidence base.Rheumatology advances in practice · 2024Review
- Article
- Factors Leading to Diagnostic and Therapeutic Delay of Rheumatoid Arthritis and Their Impact on Disease Outcome.Cureus · 2023Article
- Barriers to the Diagnosis of Early Inflammatory Arthritis: A Literature Review.Open access rheumatology : research and reviews · 2023Review
- Investigation into the wait time for consultation in the psoriatic arthritis program.Clinical rheumatology · 2022Article
- Article
- How long does it take to translate research findings into routine healthcare practice?-the case of biological drugs for rheumatoid arthritis in Brazil.Annals of translational medicine · 2022Article
- A multicentre validation study of a smartphone application to screen hand arthritis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
- When and how should we use imaging in individuals at risk of rheumatoid arthritis?Frontiers in medicine · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEven after achieving tremendous advances in diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA), many of the patients undergo delays in diagnosis and initiation of treatment, which leads to worsening of the condition and poor prognosis.
objectiveThe objective of this study was to perform a literature review to quantify the lag times in diagnosis and treatment of RA and study the reported factors associated with it.
methodsThe authors searched literature published until September 2016 in electronic full-text and abstract databases and hand-searched the suitable articles.
resultsThe weighted average of median lag time from symptom onset to therapy was 11.79 months (12 studies, 5,512 patients, range 3.6-24.0 months). Lag1 was 3.14 months (onset of symptoms to first physician consultant; 12 studies, 6,055 patients, range 0-5.7 months); lag2 was 2.13 months (physician visit to RA specialist referral; 13 studies, 34,767 patients, range 0.5-6.6 months); lag3 was 2.91 months (consultation with rheumatologist to diagnosis; 3 studies, 563 patients, range 0-5 months), lag4 was 2.14 months (diagnosis to initiation of disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy; 5 studies, 30,685 patients, range 0-2.2 months). Numerous patient-and physician-related factors like gender, ethnicity, primary care physician knowledge of the condition, availability of diagnostics, and so on were responsible for the delays.
conclusionThis review estimated the delay times and identified the main factors for delay in RA patients in diagnosis and initiation of treatment. A most plausible solution to this is coordinated effort by the rheumatology and primary care physicians.
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Registered trials
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