Diagnostic Delay in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases: A Global Health Problem.

In this issue of The Journal of Rheumatology, Xiang et al1 describe the experience and influencing factors of symptom appraisal and help-seeking among patients with various autoimmune rheumatic diseases (ARDs) in a multiethnic urban Asian population.The authors guided the interpretation of this qualitative study based on the social cognitive theory framework to enhance the appraisal of symptoms and help-seeking.