^

Health

A
A
A

Epidemiology of osteoarthritis

 
, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
 
Fact-checked
х

All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.

We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.

If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.

Diseases of the musculoskeletal system, united in the XIII class of the ICD, are considered throughout the world as one of the most common pathologies of modern society. Among them, osteoarthritis is the most common pathology of synovial joints. The prevalence of osteoarthritis in the population (6.43%) correlates with age and reaches the maximum values (13.9%) in individuals over 45 years of age. The incidence of osteoarthritis in Ukraine is 497.1, the prevalence is 2200.6 per 100 000 population, which is much lower than the world indicators (in the USA - 700 and 6500, respectively).

The incidence of rheumatic diseases in different countries of the world (according to Ciocci A., 1999)

A country

Total number of cases, mln

Number of cases per 100 population

Year

Link

Netherlands

-

18.5

1975

Social Security Service

West Germany

20

16

1974

Federal Service for Statistics

Austria

-

15.4

1977

Josenhans

Denmark

0.560

14

1957

Robecchi et al.

United Kingdom

5.8

Eleven

1976

LBR * UK

France

4

8

1976

Rubens-Duval and Chaouat

USA

20

7th

1976

Public Health Service Arthritis Foundation

Switzerland

-

8-13

1977

Federated LBR

Italy

5.5

10

1986

Italian LBR

Spain

4

12.7

1992

Spanish LBR

Worldwide

200

4

1971

WHO

Note. * LBR - League against rheumatism.

Before describing the prevalence of osteoarthritis in the world, it should be noted that in two epidemiological studies, two types of criteria for diagnosing the disease have generally been used - X-ray according to Kellgren and Lawrence (1957) and the criteria for ACR. According to the latter, the diagnosis of osteoarthritis is established only in those cases when there is a major symptom - pain in the joints during most days of the previous month. Naturally, the prevalence of osteoarthritis, assessed using different criteria, will be different and, probably, this figure is underestimated when using the ACR criteria in comparison with the traditional radiographic evaluation.

In the United States, the most profound epidemiology of osteoarthritis has been studied in two national programs - the National Health Examination Survey (NHES) and the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES-I), which were conducted from 1960 to 1962 and from 1971 to 1975. Respectively (National Center for Health Statistics). Later data from these two studies were summarized by the National Arthritis Data Work Group in 1989 and 1998.

Dynamics of prevalence of arthrosis and morbidity in 1997, 1999-2001. (per 100 thousand population) (according to Kovalenko VN et al, 2002)

Region

Prevalence of arthrosis

Morbidity with arthrosis

1997

1999

2000

2001

1997

1999

2000

2001

Ukraine

1212

1790

1968.5

2200.6

254

420

453.84

497.1

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

805

1037

1175.18

1422.0

180

269

319.5

312.3

Vinnytsia

2386

3175

3317.16

3625.1

522

591

650.77

586.3

Volynska

2755

3094

3261 79

3378.9

340

446

526.29

538.2

The

1096

1894

2104.64

2377 8

346

602

676.01

745.2

Donetsk

1896

2668

2709.95

3012.5

307

460

453.66

566.8

Zhitomirskaya

1121

2107

3319.27

4552.0

173

426

488.2

677.1

Transcarpathian

360

977

1335.24

2136.9

89

337

473.25

668.0

Zaporozhye

862

1207

1210.53

1234.4

141

356

279.16

335.3

Ivano-Frankivsk

2353

3645

3963.99

4159.3

530

780

937.84

962.3

Kievskaya

686

1287

1459.4

1550.1

190

352

411.77

415.6

Kirovograd

1331

1988

2237,42

2465.7

219

365

435.47

439 3

Luhansk

810

1161

113877

1168.3

179

350

330.82

339.7

Lviv

318

700

764.38

877.7

121

310

290.6

365.5

Mykolayiv

558

668

796.98

894.4

132

204

238.31

271.2

Odesa

1729

2239

2355.66

2478.5

385

535

556.55

575.5

Poltava

464

829

970.93

1032.8

96

321

366.7

364.6

Rivne

640

1075

1063.28

1107.8

116

239

238.78

239.3

Sumy

1273

1606

1828.03

2115.5

261

365

420.15

465 4

Ternopil

1568

1896

$ 202.99

2113.6

197

234

282.82

273.6

Kharkivska

933

1189

1265.75

1317.6

226

323

357.28

456 9

Kherson

633

2109

2677.82

3074.3

248

775

724.55

797.0

Khmelnytskyi

983

1318

1451.12

1480.0

152

257

298.94

296.5

Cherkasy

2058

2950

343719

4420.0

442

534

675.5

660.9

Chernivtsi

2772

3447

3811.79

3909.9

454

417

681.84

370.8

Chernihiv

1428

2253

2304.32

2539.8

315

517

433.2

539.3

Kiev

690

1239

1419.51

1559.3

202

395

405.29

467.3

City of Sevastopol

982

1665

1653,92

1789.1

215

384

343.9

397.8

Diagnosis of osteoarthritis was based on x-ray signs of osteoarthritis in the joints of the hands and lower limbs (NHES) and in the knee and hip joints (NHANES-I). The last study in the diagnosis of osteoarthritis also took into account the clinical picture of the disease.

According to the NHES and NHANES-I data, about one third of those aged 25 to 74 years have radiographic signs of osteoarthrosis of at least one localization. In particular, in 33% there was a significant osteoarthrosis of the joints of the hands, in 22% - osteoarthrosis of the joints of the feet, 4% - of the knee joints. Among people aged 55 to 74 years, osteoarthritis of the joints of the hands was diagnosed in 70%, joints in 40%, gonarthrosis in 10%, coxarthrosis in 3%. Among 6913 examined within the framework of NHANES-I, osteoarthritis was diagnosed in 12% of persons aged 25 to 74 years. Using data from 1990, the National Arthritis Data Work Group concluded that more than 20 million adults in the US have clinical signs of osteoarthritis.

According to the Framinghem Osteoarthritis Study (a study of the prevalence of osteoarthritis among Americans - representatives of the Caucasoid race aged 63 to 93 years), one third of individuals have reliable radiographic signs of knee osteoarthritis. Similar data were obtained during the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging.

The prevalence of the manifest osteoarthritis of the knee joints was studied in NHANES-I and the Framinghem Osteoarthritis Study. Osteoarthritis was considered manifest if the patient complained of pain in the knee joints for the majority of days for at least one month. According to NHANES-I, the prevalence of manifest gonarthrosis was 1.6% among persons aged 25-74 years), according to the Framinghem Osteoarthritis Study - 9.5% among persons aged 63-93 years.

A survey conducted in Spain in 1990 on the prevalence of rheumatic diseases showed that 12.7% of respondents (25.7% over the age of 60) have complaints typical of some rheumatic diseases, of which 43% (29, 4% of men and 52.3% of women) complained of the presence of symptoms of osteoarthritis.

According to 1994 data, in Italy, there were 4 million patients with osteoarthritis, which was 72% of all patients with rheumatic diseases.

Structure of the incidence of rheumatic diseases in Italy in 1994

Disease

Total number of patients

% of the total number of patients with rheumatic diseases

Osteoarthritis

4M

72.63

Extra-articular rheumatism

700 thousand.

12.71

Rheumatoid arthritis

410 thousand.

7.45

Ankylosing spondylitis

151 thousand

2.74

Gouty Arthritis

112 thousand

2.03

Diseases of connective tissue

33.6 thousand

0.61

Acute Rheumatic Arthritis

500 thousand.

0.01

Other rheumatic pathologies

100 thousand

1.82

Generally

5 million 500 thousand.

100

According to the epidemiological study of the prevalence of chronic diseases in the highlands of Scotland, the prevalence of O. A. Colonization was 65% of the population.

I. Petersson (1996) revealed osteoarthrosis of the joints of the hands in 10% of people aged 40-49 years and in 92% (over 90% of women, 80% of men) over the age of 70 living in Europe. In the populations of Sweden and the Netherlands, the prevalence of osteoarthritis of the joints in the age group over 70 was 92 and 75% respectively, of streets older than 15 years, respectively, 22 and 29%.

In the UK, the prevalence of coxarthrosis III-IV stage according to Kellgren and Lawrence in the age group over 55 was 8.4% in women and 3.1% in men. In the Netherlands, the prevalence of osteoarthritis in people over 60 years of age is estimated at 5.6% for women and 3.7% for men. In a prospective study of 1,205 radiographs in Sweden, it was found that the prevalence of coxarthrosis rises from less than 1% in the age group below the age of 55 to 10% in persons over 85 years of age; the average prevalence of osteoarthritis among persons over 55 years of age was 3.1% without differences by sex. In the Netherlands, the prevalence of coxarthrosis II-IV stages by Kellgren and Lawrence is about 3% in the age group of 45-49 years.

The prevalence of osteoarthritis of the knee joints varies widely, given to various researchers. So, according to JA Kellgren and JS. Lawrence (1958), in the age group of 55 years - 64 years in women this figure was 40.7%, in men - 29.8%. TD Spector and co-authors (1991) found osteoarthritis of the knee joints in 2.9% of women aged 45-65 years. In the Dutch study, gonarthrosis was diagnosed in 7,7-14,3% of persons aged 45-49 years.

In a 12-year prospective observation, 258 persons from the general population over the age of 45 years found that about 25% of women and 10% of men during this period had radiographic signs of osteoarthritis of the knee joints. According to E. Bagge and co-authors (1992), in the age group of 75-79 years, the incidence of osteoarthritis of the small joints of the hands was 13.6%, of the knee joints 4.5% over a five-year period. JP Masse et al (1992) found that the average age of onset of chronic pain in women with lateral patellofemoral (patellar-femoral), medial and lateral tibiofemoral (tibial-femoral) osteoarthritis was 56.6 + 12.62.7 + 12 and 69 , 2 + 10 years respectively. In men, pain in the knee joints appeared somewhat later: at the age of 60.5 ± 10 years with lateral patellofemoral osteoarthritis and 64 +10 years with medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis.

In the US, osteoarthritis ranks second after cardiovascular disease as the reason for premature retirement (more than 5% per year).

Primary disability of the population due to deforming arthrosis in the regions of Ukraine (according to Kovalenko VN et al., 2002)

Region, 2001.

Adult population

The able-bodied population

Abs. Number

At 10 thousand.

Abs. Number

At 10 thousand.

Volynska

68.0

0.8

58.0

1.0

Transcarpathian

66.0

0.7

56.0

0.7

Ivano-Frankivsk

1.0

0.01

1.0

0.01

Lviv

157.0

0.7

115.0

0.7

Rivne

91.0

1.0

55.0

0.8

Ternopil

94.0

1.0

58.0

0.9

Chernivtsi

46.0

0.6

38.0

0.7

Autonomous Republic of Crimea

138.0

0.8

71.0

0.6

The

56.0

0.2

3.0

0.01

Zaporozhye

0.0

0.0

0.0

0.0

Mykolayiv

69.0

0.7

48.0

0.6

Odesa

228.0

1.1

118.0

0.8

Kherson

45.0

0.5

25.0

0.4

City of Sevastopol

73.0

2.3

28.0

1.2

Donetsk

407.0

1.0

275.0

1.0

Luhansk

107.0

0.5

68.0

0.4

Poltava

224 0

1.6

84.0

0.9

Sumy

4.0

0.04

3.0

0.04

Kharkivska

221.0

0.9

121.0

0.7

Chernihiv

66.0

0.6

29.0

0.4

Vinnytsia

179.0

1.2

80.0

0.8

Zhitomirskaya

125.0

1.1

80.0

1.0

Kievskaya

133.0

0.9

76.0

0.7

Kirovograd

138.0

1.5

86.0

1.4

Cherkasy

200.0

1.7

61.0

0.8

Khmelnytskyi

95.0

0.8

72.0

0.9

Kiev

265.0

1.2

32.0

0.2

Ukraine, 2001.

2773.0

0.8

1360.0

0.6

Ukraine, 2000.

3223,0

0.8

1652.0

0.6

trusted-source[1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], [10],

Economic aspects of osteoarthritis

The pathology of the musculoskeletal system, in which osteoarthritis takes the leading place, leads to significant losses in the economic, social and psychological spheres. Losses associated with the diseases of this group have increased in recent years and constitute 1-2.5% of the gross national income of developed countries of the world such as the USA, Canada, Great Britain, France, Australia. In 1980 in the United States of America, the costs associated with musculoskeletal diseases amounted to 21 billion dollars (1% of the gross national product), in 1988 - 54.6 billion dollars, and in 1992 - 64.8 billion dollars. In 1986, in Canada, these losses were estimated at 8.3 billion Canadian dollars; in France, 4 billion French francs of direct costs (medicines, visits to doctors, laboratory tests, X-ray studies, rehabilitation therapy, etc.) and about 600 million francs of indirect costs associated with losses in the workplace where patients with osteoarthritis are engaged. In the UK, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) consume about 219 million pounds sterling per year (most of them spend patients with osteoarthritis), which is 5% of the total cost of drugs. In Norway, an amount equivalent to £ 8 million is spent annually on NSAIDs.

trusted-source[11], [12], [13], [14], [15], [16],

You are reporting a typo in the following text:
Simply click the "Send typo report" button to complete the report. You can also include a comment.