Facts About Musculoskeletal Disorders and Arthritis

Overview

• Musculoskeletal disorders, including arthritis, encompasses more than 100 diseases and conditions that affect joints, the surrounding tissues, and other connective tissues. Approximately 46 million Americans have some type of arthritis or related condition, and 60 percent of them are female.
   
• Arthritis-related disability is more prevalent among women than men at all ages: one in four women (24.4 percent) report having a disability compared with one in five men (19.1 percent). In absolute numbers, since 1999, there has been a 22 percent increase in the number of women who attribute their disability to arthritis (6.4 million).
   
• The estimated cost of arthritis to the economy annually is some $128 billion.

• Behçet’s disease, an autoimmune disease that results from damage to blood vessels throughout the body, is common in the Middle East, Asia, and Japan. It is rare in the United States. In Middle Eastern and Asian countries, the disease affects more men than women. In the United States, it affects more women than men. Behçet’s disease tends to develop in people in their 20’s or 30’s, but people of all ages can develop the disease.

• Fibromyalgia affects 3 million to 6 million Americans, up to 90 percent of whom are women. A recent study found that African-American women are more likely to suffer from fibromyalgia than their Caucasian counterparts.

• Gout, a complex form of arthritis characterized by sudden, severe attacks of pain, redness and tenderness in joints, occurs more often in men than it does in women, primarily because women tend to have lower uric acid levels than men do. After menopause, however, women’s uric acid levels approach those of men. Men also are more likely to develop gout earlier—usually between the ages of 40 and 50—whereas women generally develop signs and symptoms after menopause.
   
• In a survey of the employed population in the United States, 7.2 percent of workers reported losing two or more hours of work in the past week due to back pain, arthritis, or other musculoskeletal pain conditions (including time spent at work without being productive due to pain). The mean time lost was 5 to 5.5 hours per week. The estimated total annual cost of productive time lost due to back pain, arthritis and other musculoskeletal pain problems was $41.7 billion in 2002.

• Osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, affects nearly 27 million Americans. Approximately 16 million OA sufferers are women, who usually develop the disorder after age 40.

• Osteoporosis is a major public health threat for an estimated 44 million Americans, or 55 percent of people age 50 and older. Today, 10 million people already have the disease, 80 percent of whom are women. Another 34 million people have low bone density, placing them at increased risk for osteoporosis and broken bones.
   
• In 2005, osteoporosis-related fractures were responsible for an estimated $19 billion in costs. By 2025, experts predict that those costs will rise to approximately $25.3 billion.

• Psoriatic arthritis, a chronic disease characterized by inflammation of the skin (psoriasis) and joints (arthritis), is a common skin condition affecting 2 percent of the Caucasian population in the United States. Approximately 10 percent of patients who have psoriasis also develop an associated inflammation of their joints. The onset of psoriatic arthritis generally occurs in the fourth and fifth decades of life. Males and females are affected equally. The skin disease (psoriasis) and the joint disease (arthritis) often appear separately. In fact, the skin disease precedes the arthritis in nearly 80 percent of patients. However, the arthritis may precede the psoriasis in up to 15 percent of patients.

• Raynaud’s disease, a condition that causes some areas of the body to feel numb and cool in response to cold temperatures or stress, affects women more than men. Although anyone can develop the condition, primary Raynaud’s often begins between the ages of 15 and 30. About one-third of people with primary Raynaud’s have a first-degree relative—a parent, sibling or child—with the disorder.

• Approximately 1.3 million American adults have rheumatoid arthritis (RA), with women outnumbering men 2.5-to-1. RA usually strikes women between the ages of 25 to 50.
   
• Juvenile arthritis is one of the most common childhood diseases in the United States. Approximately 294,000 children under the age of 18 are affected by pediatric arthritis and rheumatologic conditions.

• Scleroderma, a group of rare, progressive diseases that causes hardening and tightening of the skin and connective tissues, occurs at least four times as often in women as it does in men and usually occurs between the ages of 30 and 50. Systemic scleroderma is more common in African Americans than it is in Americans of European descent, and those African-Americans are more likely to develop severe lung complications.7 those of men. Men also are more likely to develop gout earlier—usually between the ages of 40 and 50—whereas women generally develop signs and symptoms after menopause.

• Anyone can get lupus, an inflammatory disease that may affect many parts of the body, but 9 out of 10 people who have lupus are women. African-American women are three times more likely to get lupus than white women. Lupus is also more common in Hispanic/Latina, Asian, and Native American women. African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos tend to get lupus at a younger age and have more symptoms, including kidney problems. Lupus also tends to be more severe in these ethnic groups. For example, African Americans with lupus have more problems with seizures and strokes. Hispanic/Latino patients have more heart problems.

• Virtually all adults have experienced one or more brief episodes of musculoskeletal pain associated with injury or overuse. Recurrent or chronic musculoskeletal pain problems are also common. Although prevalence rates vary across studies of a given condition due to different case definitions, time periods, and populations studied, it is clear that the prevalence of certain musculoskeletal pain problems is fairly low (e.g., 2 percent or less for fibromyalgia and rheumatoid arthritis) whereas low back pain is extremely common, affecting up to 40 percent of adults in the general population at any given time. Prevalence is in the range of 15 percent to 20 percent for neck and shoulder pain and up to 15 percent for knee pain. The rates of many musculoskeletal pain problems vary greatly by age and sex. For example, knee pain from osteoarthritis is extremely common in the elderly, affecting more than one-third of people over age 60, but is much less common among younger people. Neck, shoulder, knee, and back pain are about 1.5 times more common in women than in men.

• Sjögren’s syndrome is one of the most prevalent autoimmune disorders, striking as many as 4 million Americans, of whom 9 out of 10 are women. About half of Sjögren’s cases occur along with another connective tissue disease, primarily rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus, and scleroderma.

• Ankylosing spondylitis, a form of chronic inflammation of the spine and the sacroiliac joints, is two to three times more common in males than in females. In women, joints away from the spine are more frequently affected than in men. Ankylosing spondylitis affects all age groups, including children. The most common age of onset of symptoms is in the second and third decades of life.