{"id":766,"date":"2025-12-12T01:37:03","date_gmt":"2025-12-11T14:37:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/?page_id=766"},"modified":"2025-12-12T08:17:25","modified_gmt":"2025-12-11T21:17:25","slug":"diagnosing-jia","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/","title":{"rendered":"Diagnosing JIA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column has-white-background-color has-background is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading mb-0 has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-1\" style=\"color:#004aad\">A Quick Guide to Diagnosing Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA)<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:100%\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Suspicion of juvenile arthritis relies on a thorough history and physical examination. There are no specific tests for the diagnosis of juvenile arthritis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-2\" style=\"color:#b7320e\">History and physical examination<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>A strong suspicion of JIA in its early stages is indicated by:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Persistent pain and swelling of single or multiple joints over several weeks<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stiffness in the early morning which improves over the day<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reluctance to use or move affected joint(s) through their full range of movement<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Lack of alternate explanation for the problem such as recent injury or infectious illness<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>It is important to remember that:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">i) Symptoms of JIA are consistent and persistent (symptoms that come and go and are a bit different every time are not likely to be JIA)<br>ii) Specialist input is critical to early diagnosis and management to achieve disease control and prevent permanent joint and eye damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-3\" style=\"color:#b7320e\">Investigations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>There is no specific test for JIA in children<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>FBC, ELFT, ESR and CRP are useful initial tests to help rule out other causes<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A small percentage of children with JIA will have a positive Rheumatoid Factor but the majority will be Rheumatoid Factor negative<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>ANA, HLA-B27 test help classify JIA types and determine risk for, and types of, eye involvement but even when present are not diagnostic of JIA<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>X-rays are usually not helpful in the early stages of the disease<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ultrasound can be useful in detecting synovitis but rarely indicates its cause<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A careful history and examination will provide the most useful clues to the diagnosis<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-4\" style=\"color:#b7320e\">What should the GP do if JIA is suspected?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1. Urgent referral to paediatric rheumatologist is required if JIA is suspected or can\u2019t be excluded. See <a href=\"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/find\/\"><strong>Find a Paediatric Rheumatologist<\/strong><\/a> at the top of this page<br>2. If there is likely to be any delay in specialist assessment of a child with suspected JIA, <strong>make an urgent referral to an optometrist for screening for uveitis with a slit lamp.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-color has-link-color wp-elements-5\" style=\"color:#b7320e\">Uveitis<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A proportion of children with JIA will have uveitis at diagnosis or develop it later<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uveitis can cause loss of vision up to an including blindness if not detected early and treated effectively.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uveitis may be asymptomatic and there may be no obvious changes in the appearance of the affected eye<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Uveitis always requires urgent assessment, and ongoing monitoring and management by an ophthalmologist.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"980\" height=\"1320\" src=\"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-781\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing.png 980w, https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-223x300.png 223w, https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-760x1024.png 760w, https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-768x1034.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 980px) 100vw, 980px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Quick Guide to Diagnosing Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) Suspicion of juvenile arthritis relies on a thorough history and physical examination. There are no specific tests for the diagnosis of juvenile arthritis. History and physical examination A strong suspicion of JIA in its early stages is indicated by: It is important to remember that: i) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":767,"parent":0,"menu_order":5,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-766","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Diagnosing JIA | JAFA\u2019s Early Diagnosis Program for JIA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Juvenile arthritis is a painful, inflammatory, autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology diagnosedbefore the age of 16. Its correct name is juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Diagnosing JIA | JAFA\u2019s Early Diagnosis Program for JIA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Juvenile arthritis is a painful, inflammatory, autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology diagnosedbefore the age of 16. Its correct name is juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JAFA Early Diagnosis Program\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-12-11T21:17:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-jia.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/\",\"name\":\"Diagnosing JIA | JAFA\u2019s Early Diagnosis Program for JIA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/diagnosing-jia.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-12-11T14:37:03+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-12-11T21:17:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Juvenile arthritis is a painful, inflammatory, autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology diagnosedbefore the age of 16. Its correct name is juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/diagnosing-jia.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/12\\\/diagnosing-jia.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/diagnosing-jia\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Diagnosing JIA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/\",\"name\":\"JAFA Early Diagnosis Program\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/jafa.org.au\\\/hcphub\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Diagnosing JIA | JAFA\u2019s Early Diagnosis Program for JIA","description":"Juvenile arthritis is a painful, inflammatory, autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology diagnosedbefore the age of 16. Its correct name is juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Diagnosing JIA | JAFA\u2019s Early Diagnosis Program for JIA","og_description":"Juvenile arthritis is a painful, inflammatory, autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology diagnosedbefore the age of 16. Its correct name is juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).","og_url":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/","og_site_name":"JAFA Early Diagnosis Program","article_modified_time":"2025-12-11T21:17:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-jia.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/","url":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/","name":"Diagnosing JIA | JAFA\u2019s Early Diagnosis Program for JIA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-jia.png","datePublished":"2025-12-11T14:37:03+00:00","dateModified":"2025-12-11T21:17:25+00:00","description":"Juvenile arthritis is a painful, inflammatory, autoimmune disease of unknown aetiology diagnosedbefore the age of 16. Its correct name is juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA).","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-jia.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/diagnosing-jia.png","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/diagnosing-jia\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Diagnosing JIA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/#website","url":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/","name":"JAFA Early Diagnosis Program","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/766\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":782,"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/766\/revisions\/782"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jafa.org.au\/hcphub\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}