Different types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis in children presenting in a tertiary care hospital.

Objective: To determine the frequency of different types of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in children presenting in a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Department of Pediatrics, Children Hospital Complex & Institute of Child Health Multan. Period: January 2021 to July 2021. Material & Methods: Children of both genders with diagnosis of JIA aged 6-12 years and having duration of illness more than six weeks. Age, gender and duration of JIA were noted. Stratification of confounder variables e.g., age, gender and duration of JIA was done. Post-stratification Chi-square test was applied to determine the effect of the variables on frequency of different forms of arthritis. P-value <0.05 was taken as significant. Results: In a total of 121 children, mean age was 8.84±1.83 years. 72 (59.5%) were boys. Mean duration of symptoms was 7.93±4.61 months. Oligoarticular JIA was most common type diagnosed in 40 (33.1%) children followed by polyarticular JIA in 37 (30.6%). Oligoarticular and polyarticular JIA were significantly more common in boys (67.5% and 67.6%) compared to girls (32.5% and 32.4%) respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion: Oligoarticular JIA sub-type is the most common subtype of JIA. Identification of these different subtypes is beneficial for diagnosis and long-term treatment of such children.