The 100+ types of arthritis and other rheumatic conditions comprise the most frequent cause of disability in the U.S. and primarily affect older adults, but the varying severity of these conditions makes it difficult to judge their absolute and relative societal burden. We used data for 1996 to determine DALYs for two common types of arthritis: osteoarthritis (hip or knee) and rheumatoid arthritis. DALYs are calculated as the sum of years of life lost due to premature mortality plus the years of life lost due to disability. Hip/knee osteoarthritis accounted for 521,443 DALYs among women and 413,818 DALYs among men. Rheumatoid arthritis accounted for 145,889 DALYs among women and 58,218 DALYs among men. Hip/knee osteoarthritis ranked 5th for women and 13th for men among the 15 leading causes of DALYs. Study strengths include: 1) providing the first U.S. national estimates of DALYs for any type of arthritis, 2) using DALYs, which provide a standardized, summary metric to quantify, integrate and compare the impact of morbidity and mortality, and 3) linking a disability measure to a specific health condition. Study limitations include the omission of other types of arthritis as well as the relative paucity of needed data such as 1) U.S. population estimates of prevalence, incidence, and distribution of severity, and 2) general public preferences for different health states (used to create disability weights for quantifying condition severity). Hip/knee osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis comprise large sources of DALYs and their interventions warrant greater attention as a means of reducing disability.
Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant will be able to: 1. Describe the rationale for and mechanics of calculating DALYs. 2. Define the burden of hip/knee osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, as measured by DALYs. 3. Recognize alternative measures of burden.
Keywords: Arthritis, Disability
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: none
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.