Rheumatoid arthritis patient referrals delayed by test results

False negative results in a test for rheumatoid arthritis are associated with referral delays of over six weeks for patients, new research suggests. The research, which will be presented at the British Society for Rheumatology’s conference Rheumatology 2014, showed that of 64,000 patients undergoing rheumatoid factor testing in primary care, 1,800 were diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis within two years. Of those, only 1,000 had had a positive result from the test. Rheumatoid factor (RF) testing is typically used during patient assessments in specialist rheumatology departments. But 70% of RF tests take place in primary care where they may be used