Juvenile Arthritis Fact Sheet

Juvenile arthritis (JA) refers to any form of arthritis or an arthritis-related condition that develops in children or teenagers who are less than 17 years of age.

Impact of Juvenile Arthritis:

• Nearly 300,000 children under the age of 17 are affected by juvenile arthritis
  [Newacheck, P.W. & Taylor, W.R. (1992). Childhood chronic illness: prevalence, severity, and impact. Am J Public Health JID - 1254074, 82, 364-371].
   
• Juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (JRA), affecting 50,000 children, is the most common form of juvenile arthritis and one of the most common childhood diseases in the United States
  [Lawrence, R. C., Helmick, C. G., Arnett, F. C., Deyo, R. A., Felson, David T., Giannini, E. H., Heyse, S. P., Hirsch, R., Hochberg, Marc C., Hunder, G. G., Liang, M. H., Pillemer, S. R., Steen, V. D., and Wolfe, F. Estimates of the Prevalence of Arthritis and Selected Musculoskeletal Disorders in the United States. Arthritis & Rheumatism 41(5), 778-799. 1998].
   
• Arthritis and related diseases, such as JA, cost the U.S. economy  nearly $86.2 billion annually in medical care and indirect expenses, including lost wages and production
  [CDC (2004) Update: Direct and Indirect Costs of Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Conditions -- United States, 1997. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 53: 388-389].

Types of Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis:

• Polyarticular JRA affects five or more joints and:
  • affects girls more frequently than boys
  • most commonly affects knees, wrists and ankles
  • can affect weight-bearing and other joints, including hips, neck, shoulders and jaw
  • often affects the same joint on both sides of the body
     
• Pauciarticular JRA affects four or fewer joints and:
  • usually affects the large joints: knees, ankles or wrists
  • often affects a joint on one side of the body only, particularly the knee
  • may cause eye inflammation (uveitis) which is seen most frequently in young girls with positive anti-nuclear antibodies (ANA)
     
• Systemic Onset JRA can:
  • affect boys and girls equally
  • cause high, spiking fevers of 103 degrees or higher, lasting for weeks or even months
  • cause a rash consisting of pale, red spots on the child’s chest, thighs and sometimes other parts of the body
  • cause arthritis in the small joints of the hands, wrists, knees and ankles

Other Types of Juvenile Arthritis:

• Juvenile Spondyloarthropies (ankylosing spondylitis, seronegative enthesopathy and arthropathey syndrome) are a group of diseases that involve the spine and joints of the lower extremities, most commonly the hips and knees
   
• Juvenile Psoriatic Arthritis is a type of arthritis affecting both girls and boys that occurs in association with the skin condition psoriasis
   
• Juvenile Dermatomyositis is an inflammatory disease that causes muscle weakness and a characteristic skin rash on the eyelids
   
• Juvenile Systemis Lupus Erythematosus is an autoimmune disease associated with skin rashes, arthritis, pleurisy, kidney disease and neurologic movement
   
• Juvenile Vasculitis is an inflammation of the blood vessels and can be both a primary childhood disease and a feature of other syndromes, including dermatomyositis and systemic lupus erythematosus