The prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis is approximately 0.8% of the population  (range  0.3 to  2.1%)  (Lipsky,  2001 ).  In  India  the  prevalence is  0.75% and a  rough calculation indicates that over seventy lac people are affected with this disorder (Malaviya et al., 1993, Chopara et al, 1997).