{
  "abstract": "Background\n\nRheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease causing progressive joint damage, disability, and excess mortality. Evaluating long-term epidemiological trajectories across high-resource health systems is essential for optimizing rheumatology care. This study analyzes the burden and 33-year temporal trends of RA across high-income countries and territories using Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2023 estimates.Methods\n\nWe analyzed incidence, prevalence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) across 36 high-income countries and territories (5 GBD regions: Australasia, High-income Asia Pacific, High-income North America, Southern Latin America, and Western Europe) from 1990 to 2023. To distinguish clinical risk from population growth and aging, we prioritized age-standardized rates (ASRs per 100,000) alongside absolute metrics. We present all estimates with 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs).Results\n\nIn 2023, high-income settings accounted for 0.26 million incident cases, 4.98 million prevalent cases, 0.80 million DALYs, and 10,190 deaths. From 1990 to 2023, absolute prevalent cases (+72%) and DALYs (+49%) grew substantially due to demographic aging. Conversely, underlying age-standardized incidence (17.12 [95% UI: 15.69-18.83]) and prevalence (282.80 [95% UI: 256.24-314.48]) increased modestly (+9% and +10%), while age-standardized DALY rates (44.14 [95% UI: 32.63-56.59]) fell by 7% and age-standardized death rates (0.39 [95% UI: 0.34-0.45]) decreased markedly by 41%. Australasia exhibited the highest ASRs across all metrics in 2023, whereas Southern Latin America demonstrated the sharpest ASR increases (+54% incidence, +62% prevalence, +34% DALYs). High-income Asia Pacific achieved the largest ASR reductions (-14% incidence, -12% prevalence, -26% DALYs, -49% deaths). Females and adults aged over 60 years consistently bore the primary disease burden.Conclusion\n\nWhile age-standardized mortality has dropped substantially, reflecting improved management of RA and its comorbidities, the non-fatal disability burden continues to expand alongside population aging. Rheumatology health services must shift toward long-term disability management, early treat-to-target intervention, and addressing persistent regional disparities.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Occupational Therapy, Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China.",
    "Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, People's Republic of China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 6,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Tsui Chi Mak",
      "orcid": "0009-0003-3208-2872"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Celine Cinlin Tang",
      "orcid": "0009-0006-8177-9889"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jenny Man Chik Choi",
      "orcid": "0009-0002-8739-4577"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Karlen Ka Pui Law",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8922-4603"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Angie Yuen Kiu Wong",
      "orcid": "0009-0001-0496-1832"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Kenney Ki Lee Lau",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-9958-3044"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9nxyjnsc74gxa.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.2147/oarrr.s635815",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13695907",
  "id": "9nxyjnsc74gxa",
  "issns": [
    "1179-156X"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928873",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY-NC",
  "licence_label": "CC BY-NC",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2745|Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223056222",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13695907?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13695907",
  "pmid": "42928873",
  "published": "2026-10-21",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9nxyjnsc74gxa.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:21:18Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42928873",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42928873"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2745|Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "The Burden and Temporal Trends of Rheumatoid Arthritis in High-Income Countries and Territories, 1990-2023: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023.",
  "title_text": "The Burden and Temporal Trends of Rheumatoid Arthritis in High-Income Countries and Territories, 1990-2023: A Systematic Analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:21:18Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/9nxyjnsc74gxa",
  "venue": "Open access rheumatology : research and reviews",
  "versions": []
}