Objective: To examine the clinical and functional outcome of adults with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) using the recent World Health Organization/International League Against Rheumatism (ILAR) classification.
Patients and methods: Two hundred and fifty-nine adults with long-standing JIA (average disease duration 28.3 yr) were eligible for the study; 246 (95%) attended for an interview, clinical examination and notes review and 231 (89.2%) returned a comprehensive functional and psychosocial self-assessment questionnaire.
Results: Of all patients, 43.3% had active arthritis clinically and 54.4% on laboratory measures (C-reactive protein). Clinical inflammation was less common in systemic-onset JIA. The percentage of all patients with severe disability (Health Assessment Questionnaire score >1.5) was 42.9. Uveitis occurred frequently in the oligoarticular-onset and enthesitis-related subsets. Over 30% of the extended oligoarticular group with uveitis developed glaucoma compared with none of the enthesitis group.
Conclusions: Adults with JIA often have significant levels of disability, often related to continuing active disease over prolonged periods. There is a clear need for good transition from paediatric to high-quality adult rheumatology care.