Frequent morning stiffness can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'needs attention' to 'serious'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.
Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose frequent morning stiffness, we could:
Cause | Probability | Status |
---|---|---|
Rheumatoid Arthritis | 96% | Confirm |
Chronic Fatigue-Fibromyalgia | 16% | Unlikely |
Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis | 4% | Ruled out |
Roughly how often do you experience morning stiffness?
Possible responses:
→ I don't have morning stiffness / don't know→ Less than once a month / rarely → At least once a month → At least half the time / most of the time → Every morning |