Pediatricians lose track of their patients as they mature and rheumatologists tend to avoid retrospective studies. Still's with its juvenile counterpart. The study includes 10 with juvenile onset and 8 with adult onset. After the hip, the wrist was the most frequently damaged region. High-dose corticosteroids are often required, or, to avoid steroids, methotrexate or azathioprine is needed.
Some patients do poorly despite intensive therapy.
Surprisingly the most serious consequences for people with Still's diseases were incidences of joint destruction, whereas people with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis suffered severe systemic complications. A study of 111 adult Still's patients compared them with their siblings to assess the impact of the disease on their life status. The study found that about half of the people with Still's continued to take medication 10 years after diagnosis and they lived with higher levels of pain, physical disability, and psychological disability than their healthy siblings. However the levels of pain and physical disability were low compared to patients with other rheumatic diseases. Surprisingly, the disease did not interfere with educational attainment, occupational prestige, social functioning and support, time lost from work, or family income.