Pattern of Rheumatic Disorders Among Sudanese Patients-Khartoum State

Abstract

The current study aimed to assess the pattern of rheumatic disorders in Omdurman Teaching Hospital, Khartoum, Sudan. This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted among Sudanese patients who attended the outpatient rheumatic clinic in Omdurman Teaching Hospital in Sudan during the period from March to September 2013. A structured questionnaire was designed to provide a profile of Sudanese rheumatic patients; the information collected were age, sex, occupation, marital status if receiving follow-up, social status, disabilities and associated chronic diseases. The participants signed a written informed consent, and the Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used for data analysis. Ethical clearance was obtained from the ethical committee of Omdurman Teaching Hospital. The study included a total of 248 subjects; male to female ratio was 1:3. Their ages range from 14-82 years with a mean of 43.6±13.5. The most common disorder was rheumatoid arthritis (60.5%), followed by systemic lupus erythematosus (12.9%), and gouty arthritis (8.9%). Rheumatoid arthritis was most prevalent in female 76.6% versus 23.4%, SLE was found in 87.5% of females as compared to male 12.5%, while gouty arthritis was more common in males 81.8% versus 18.2%. Concerning disability, 36.3% of patients were disabled, 25% of them had left work, and 11.3% had left school. Twenty percent of patients had hypertension, 15.3% had diabetes mellitus, 10% had bronchial asthma, and 5.6% had thyroid disorders. The commonest rheumatic disease was rheumatoid arthritis, followed by SLE and gouty arthritis. Further larger studies are needed to characterize the pattern of rheumatic disorders in this country.