الفهرس 
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Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis is a lifelong disease and the most common type of arthritis, occurred as a result of attacking an individual’s immune system to the body’s own tissues. It affects different body joints, especially small joints in the hands and feet causing inflammation in the joint membrane which results in severe pain, swelling and joint stiffness especially in the early morning, the joint erosions occur over the time, lead to joint movement limitation and then to disability. Rheumatoid arthritis is constantly evolving, so it is important to start an effective treatment as soon as possible.
Delayed dealing with the disease, will lead to joint erosion and deformities, and also move the patients to the chronic stage which affects the patient’s ability to perform vital processes such as eating, dressing, bathing and hand activities. A lot of people who suffer from this disease are not diagnosed early and if diagnosed, they do not get the services they need to help them live as well as possible with the disease. The barriers to gain early treatment arise from people’s low awareness of the disease, causing them to delay seeking medical help.
Rheumatoid has pervasive adverse effects on the physical, mental, and social well being of the affected individuals. These patients have many concerns and needs while living with their disease, and also need to express these concerns and needs. This study was carried out in order to identify concerns of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
This study was conducted at the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic and Rheumatology Internal - Medicine Department at Orthopedic Traumatology and Alexandria Main University Hospital. The sample comprised 200 patients with rheumatoid arthritis according to the following criteria:
1. Adult patient of both sexes diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis since six months.
2. Age ranged from 20 – 60 years.
Data was collected in a period of five months from 27/ 10/ 2011 to 29/ 3/ 2012.