TY - JOUR T1 - Rheumatoid arthritis and spondyloarthropathies: geographical variations in prevalence in France. JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol SP - 117 LP - 122 VL - 34 IS - 1 AU - Christian H Roux AU - Alain Saraux AU - Etienne Le Bihan AU - Patrice Fardellone AU - Patrice Guggenbuhl AU - Bruno Fautrel AU - Charles Masson AU - Isabelle Chary-Valckenaere AU - Alain Cantagrel AU - René Juvin AU - René-Marc Flipo AU - Lianna Euller-Ziegler AU - Joel Coste AU - Francis Guillemin Y1 - 2007/01/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/34/1/117.abstract N2 - OBJECTIVE: To determine geographical variation in the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and spondyloarthropathies (SpA) in France. METHODS: The survey sample was drawn from 7 areas of France. Households were randomly selected using the national telephone directory, and an individual within each household was randomly chosen by the next-birthday method. All cases of suspected RA and SpA were confirmed by the patient's rheumatologist or by clinical examination. Standardized estimates of prevalence were compared between regions and groups of regions. RESULTS: In total 15,219 anonymous telephone numbers were selected. An average response rate of 64% led to a total of 9395 respondents included in the study. The highest regional rates of RA were observed in the south (range 0.59-0.66%), and the lowest in the north (range 0.14-0.24%), with a national rate of 0.31% (95% CI 0.18-0.48%). Regional heterogeneity was observed for SpA, with the highest rates in Bretagne (0.47%) and the Sud-Est (0.53%) and a national rate of 0.30% (95% CI 0.17-0.46%). CONCLUSION: This study is the largest of its kind conducted in France. It shows inter-regional variations, mainly in RA, with a higher prevalence in the south of the country. The many potential reasons for the heterogeneity observed, including genetic and environmental factors, warrant further research. ER -