Key clinical point: Patients who were diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis had more primary care visits for musculoskeletal symptoms over 6 years before diagnosis. compared with controls.

Major finding: The frequency of primary care visits for musculoskeletal symptoms was significantly higher among patients with inflammatory arthritis in the 1.5 years before diagnosis, compared with controls; odds ratios were 3.2 at 6 months, 2.8 at 12 months, and 2.5 at 18 months.

Study details: The data come from a nested case-control study of electronic health records from 2006 to 2016 including 2,314 cases of inflammatory arthritis and 4,541 matched controls.

Disclosures: The study received no outside funding. The researchers had no financial conflicts to disclose.