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The term rheumatism comes from ancient Greece and actually refers to a river or water flow. On the one hand, this reflects the concept of ancient medicine. According to this concept, rheumatism comes from certain "sticky" "juices" that "flow" through the human body. On the other hand, the term corresponds to the fact that in the course of the disease rheumatic complaints, especially pain, occur in different tissues and parts of the body. For this reason, rheumatism is often referred to as "fluid pain". Rheumatology is a medical field that specializes in the prevention and early detection, diagnosis and differential diagnosis as well as the treatment and rehabilitation of rheumatic diseases. In addition to the definition and content of rheumatology, the following articles also describe various aspects of nursing epidemiology.

It is internationally known that rheumatism is a medicament for the musculoskeletal system. About 400 to 500 types of rheumatism and syndromes are known. They are divided into three categories: inflammatory rheumatic diseases, degenerative joint and spinal diseases, and rheumatic soft tissue diseases. "Rheumatism" is one of the most common diseases that must be treated in Germany. The rheumatology report of the federal government from 1997 estimates that about a third of all early retirees, a fifth of the length of hospital stay and a high percentage of all doctor visits are caused by rheumatism. From a pragmatic, nursing point of view, the German Academy for Rheumatology distinguishes rheumatic diseases with a good prognosis from rheumatic diseases with a poor prognosis (DGRh Memorandum, 1994).

It is estimated that the incidence of these severe rheumatic diseases is around 4% of the adult population (DGRh Memo 1994). In terms of quantity, they are of minor importance for all rheumatic diseases. On the other hand, these diseases take up the largest part of the specialized rheumatological resources and at the same time make up the largest part of the previous total costs for the treatment of rheumatism. In this group of diseases, the main diagnosis is rheumatoid arthritis, the incidence of which is about 0.8-1.2% of the adult population, and the incidence of seronegative spondylitis is about the same, as is collagen degeneration and vasculitis.