Osteoarthritis prevalence increased more than 113% globally from 1990-2019
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Global osteoarthritis prevalence increased more than 113% between 1990 and 2019, with the most cases appearing in China, India and the United States, according to data published in Arthritis & Rheumatology.
“Using data derived from [the 2019 Global Disease Burden study (GBD 2019)], we provided updated results for the prevalence of site-specific OA, in 204 countries and territories from 1990 to 2019, and analyzed the secular trends of prevalence for the first time,” Huibin Long, MD, of the department of orthopedics at the Beijing Friendship Hospital, in China, and colleagues wrote.
To approximate systemic and site-specific age-standardized prevalence rates, and analyze OA across global, regional and national levels, Long and colleagues analyzed data from the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, using the Global Health Data Exchange (GDHx) query tool to collect information. The researchers examined data on prevalent cases and age-standardized prevalence rates of OA from 1990 to 2019 in different age groups, sexes, regions, countries and territories. Data were additionally collected on OA rates in knees, hips, hands and other sites, excluding the spine.
Territories were grouped into five sociodemographic index (SDI) regions and 21 geographic regions. The SDI regions were categorized as low, low-middle, middle, high-middle and high based on “fertility, income and educational attainment,” the researchers wrote. Data collected from the GDHx were assess on a national level.
According to the researchers, prevalent cases of OA increased from 247.51 million in 1990 to 527.81 million cases in 2019 — an increase of 113.25%. Countries with the most cases included China, with 132.81 million; India, with 62.36 million; and the United States, with 51.87 million. Cases also increased across all five SDI regions, with the biggest increase — 161.69% — in the middle SDI regions, the researchers wrote. The age-standardized prevalence of OA was 6,173.83 per 100,000 in 1990, and rose to 6,348.25 per 100,000 in 2019, at an average annual increase of 0.12% (95% CI, 0.11%-0.14%).
OA prevalence increased across all four body sites. Prevalence in the hand, which saw the lowest increase among the sites, rose 91.84%, while the highest-increasing site, the hip, rose 127.51%, the authors wrote. Meanwhile, the age-standardized prevalence rates increased for knee, hip and other joints, but decreased for hand, with estimated annual percentage changes of 0.32 (95% CI, 0.29-0.34), 0.28 (95% CI, 0.26-0.31), 0.18 (95% CI, 0.18-0.19), and –0.36 (95% CI, –0.38 to –0.33), respectively.
“Our study revealed that OA prevalence increased with age and was more common in women than in men,” Long and colleagues wrote. “A high prevalence of OA was observed in countries with a high SDI level, such as Republic of Korea and USA, and a non-negligible explanation comes from an increasing life expectancy.”
Study limitations included the fact that the 2019 survey excluded symptoms that involved the spine from OA definitions, potentially underwhelming the burden of the disease.
“The secular trends are expected to be increased continually mainly due to population ageing and the epidemic of obesity,” Long and colleagues wrote. “Public awareness of the modifiable risk factors, and potential education programs of prevention disease occurrence, are essential to alleviate the enormous burden of OA.”
Collapse
Long H, et al. Arth Rheum. 2022;doi:10.1002/art.42089.
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts