Higher Stakes On
the Table: 1 In 3 Adults With Arthritis
By: Aya C. Chow
A study released in October
2002 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to shock
the arthritis community.
The results: one in three adults in the United States,
approximately 69.9 million people, report being affected by Arthritis and/or
Chronic Joint Syndrome (CJS).
This alarmingly
high number shoves aside a previous CDC projection made in 1997, estimating
that 43 million Americans would be affected in the year 2020.
In 2001 the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance
System (BRFSS) randomly dialed noninstitutionalized telephone numbers and asked
adult respondents questions about their joints.
If respondents answered, “Yes” to the following two
questions: “In the past 12 months, have you had pain, aching, stiffness, or
swelling in or around a joint?” and “Were these symptoms present on most days
for at least a month?” then they were classified as having CJS.
If they answered, “Yes” to the question, “Have you
ever been told by a doctor that you have arthritis?” then they were classified
as having physician-diagnosed arthritis.
This survey is distinctive as it offers the first
straight measurements of arthritis/CJS prevalence for all states. As our
population ages and enters the prime years of arthritis onset, surveys such as
this one helps local, state, and federal health agencies implement services and
programs to prevent further increase in arthritis-related disability, as well
as track state and federal progress in meeting 2010 health goals.
However, this survey is limited by the facts that it
relies on self-reported data not confirmed by a physician and a not all
inclusive study population. The average
response rate for 2001 was 51.4 percent, and “BRFSS might have over-estimated
prevalence because it might include persons with injuries rather than arthritis
as the cause of CJS (CDC, unpublished data, 2001).”1
The 2002 survey of this same nature was conducted
using modified questions to define CJS and physician-diagnosed arthritis, which
may result in 2002 estimates that vary from the 2001 estimates.