The burden of illness of rheumatoid arthritis in Latin America—A systematic literature review

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease which, when left untreated, may result in the destruction of multiple joints and damage a wide variety of body systems, including the skin, eyes, lungs, heart, and blood vessels. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review of disease burden for RA in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Venezuela. PubMed/Medline, Embase, and Web of Science were searched for publications in English, Spanish, or Portuguese from 2008 through June 2018. A total of 1700 records were retrieved and 36 articles were included. The estimated prevalence of RA for these countries ranged from 0.15% (Colombia) to 2.8% (Mexico). The Global Burden of Disease initiative 2019 estimated that RA accounted for 0.13% of world disability‐adjusted life‐years. For Latin America, these figures were higher: Argentina 0.16%, Brazil 0.16%, Colombia 0.21%, Mexico 0.30%, and Venezuela 0.24%. RA has a negative impact on physical, mental, and emotional well‐being as shown by substantially lower scores on measures of quality of life (SF‐36) compared with the general population. The annual direct cost in Mexico was estimated at US$3599 per person. For patients with severe RA in Brazil these costs were approximately US$10 000. Data from other studied countries were similar. Though evidence of the full cost and impact of RA in Latin American countries is scarce and additional studies are needed, the burden of RA in these regions is significant and comparable to other parts the world.