Diagnosis and course of early-onset arthritis: results of a special early arthritis clinic compared to routine patient care.

Objective: Early arthritis patients referred to an Early Arthritis Clinic (EAC) (n = 233) were compared to 241 patients from the routine out-patient clinic with respect to lag time between the onset of symptoms and the visit to the rheumatologist, clinical presentation and the consistency of the diagnosis after 1 yr. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]