A Study of Rheumatic Disease in a Canadian Indian Population

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Abstract
A survey of a native Indian population for rheumatoid arthritis disclosed a prevalence of definite disease which does not differ significantly from that found in the combined Wensleydale-Leigh study of Lawrence (1961). This survey was designed for close comparison with the W.-L. study. Clinical evaluation in both studies employed the A.R.A. 1958 criteria; and the SCAT test was done under identical conditions. The Haida data was also evaluated by the current A.R.A. 1962 criteria. A significant difference was found in radiological interpretation between Lawrence and the Vancouver observers. The problem of this inter-observer difference was resolved by applying Lawrence''s x-ray interpretations directly to the Haida data which was then compared with his W.-L. study. Marie-Strumpell spondylitis was found to have an unexpectedly high prevalence in this native population. Convincing evidence that these people have more Marie-Strumpell spondylitis than exists in other parts of the world will depend on a better definition of the prevalence of this disease in other populations.