Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is the name given to inflammation in the joints (arthritis) that first occurs in children and young people under the age of 16. It is a painful and disabling condition that can lead to long-term damage.

The last time researchers assessed how common JIA is in the UK was in 1990-94. Since then, the way the disease is assessed and treated has changed dramatically, with new ways of classifying JIA and many new medications, such as biologic treatments.

In the recent publication, a team of researchers from the Centre for Epidemiology Versus Arthritis answered the following questions:

• How common is JIA in the UK since 2003?
• Has this changed over time?
• Are notable differences by age, gender and the four nations of the UK ( England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales)?

Find out the key results, summarised in the infographic below.

Download this infographic (PDF)

Publication

Ruth Costello, Janet McDonagh, Kimme L Hyrich, Jenny H Humphreys, Incidence and prevalence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis in the United Kingdom, 2000–2018: results from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, Rheumatology, 2021;, keab714, https://doi.org/10.1093/rheumatology/keab714

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