Symptoms and signs

Principal Investigator:

Dr Sara Muller

Study Co-ordinator:

Mrs Sarah Lawton

Funder name / reference number: National Institute of Health Research (NIHR)

Study design

This study uses the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) to update a previously published ‘definition’ of RA in medical records. This new definition is then being used to compare the medical records of those with and without RA to attempt to identify early signs and symptoms of RA that may be useful in expediting future diagnoses of RA in primary care.

Primary objective

The main research objective is to identify patterns of primary care consultations forming a prodromal syndrome for rheumatoid arthritis (RA)