Heleen Westland

Feb 17, 2024 | onlinelibrary.wiley.com | Heleen Westland |Stefan Kuiper |Tiny Jaarsma |Etienne Blaas

1 INTRODUCTION Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease with a systemic nature which affects approximately 0.5%–1.0% of the adult population worldwide (Smolen, Aletaha, & McInnes, 2016). Prevalence rises with age, with a higher incidence in women (Cross et al., 2014; Sparks et al., 2016). RA is characterized by joint inflammation, leading to pain, stiffness, severe fatigue and progressive joint damage (Eberhard et al., 2023; Guo et al., 2018; Scott et al., 2020).