M.D. Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis is a difficult disease to diagnose and the diagnosis is made by excluding other causes of arthritis in a child with swollen joints for longer than six weeks. The prognosis of JRA depends on the severity of the disease.
Mortality is rare and almost all children survive into adulthood.
Until the early 1980's, the majority of children with JRA were eared for by adult rheumatologists, pediatricians, or nonrheumatologic pediatric specialists, few of which offered a team care approach. In the early 1980's, the Bureau of Maternal and Child Health under the leadership of Dr. Merle McPherson established at least ten Pediatric Rheumatology Comprehensive Care Centers. By 1986, there were 103 pediatric rheumatologists with 57 medical schools employing a pediatric rheumatologist. The establishment of these centers increased the number of children correctly diagnosed, and improved the availability of comprehensive care from a team of health care providers. Despite this improved care, there are not enough pediatric rheumatologists to cover the US and its medical schools.