Asian Journal of Immunology

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disorder primarily affecting the joints, leading to pain, swelling, stiffness, and eventual loss of function. Hepatitis B and C are liver infections caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) that can lead to both acute and chronic diseases.The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis, hepatitis B and C among elderly subjects that attend pilgrimage center Elele. A cross-sectional observational study was adopted to recruit a total of 589 apparently healthy elderly subjects, aged 60 years and above comprising 246 males and 343 females for this study. Approximately 3mL of blood was collected and dispensed into a plain container. It was later centrifuged and the serum separated. The Latex Slide Test method was used for the Qualitative determination of rheumatoid factor (RF) in human serum, while rapid immunochromatographic test strips were used to assay for hepatitis B and C. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25. The collected data were categorized and summarized using descriptive statistics, including frequencies and percentages to represent the distribution of variables. Inferential analysis was conducted using the Chi-square (χ²) test to examine associations between categorical variables. A significance level of p ≤ 0.05 was adopted to determine statistical significance. A total of 23(3.9%) were positive to rheumatoid arthritis while 566 (96.1%) were negative. For hepatitis B, and hepatitis C, 3 (0.5%) were positive while 586 (99.5%) were negative in the study population.The comparative prevalence of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in male and female population showed that the females 16 (4.66%) had more prevalence than the male population 7 (2.8%). There was no significant difference between the gender based prevalence of Rheumatoid arthritis in the study population (X² = 1.000, p = 0.317). On the Occurrence of Hepatitis B and C in the study population, the overall prevalence stood at 3 (0.50%) for both hepatitis B and C. The gender based prevalence of Hepatitis B showed that male had more occurrences (0.81%) than the female (0.29%), while the reverse was the case for gender based prevalence of Hepatitis C, with the females having more occurrences (0.56%) than the males (0.40%). Therewas no statistical difference comparing the prevalence of hepatitis B and C amongst both genders. Although the prevalence was generally low in this study, the findings from this research underscore the significant burden posed by these chronic conditions in individuals who are old. There is need to sustain awareness on the prevalence of these disease among the elderly population, as they can contribute to reduced quality of life, increased morbidity and health system strain, particularly in resource-limited settings where early diagnosis and long-term management are limited. Improving access to diagnostic services, vaccination for HBVand timely medical care are critical for managing disease progression and preventing complications. Further research and sustained health interventions targeting this population are strongly recommended.