Costs of Arthritis Grow With Population
Financial burden of arthritis care has nearly doubled in 10 years
April 27, 2007 — -- More than 46 million American adults had arthritis or other rheumatic conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and gout in 2003, a new study reports.
And the numbers could be rising.
The study, published in the current issue of Arthritis and Rheumatism, found the new figures to be an increase over the nearly 37 million people who suffered from these conditions in 1997.
The overall medical costs and the lost wages associated with these conditions also continued to rise, according to the study.
Since 1997, when a similar study was done by the group, the options for treating arthritic conditions have grown vastly.
With the introduction -- and failure -- of new drugs such as Vioxx and Celebrex, increasing use of biologic agents, and more hip and knee replacements, Louise Murphy, epidemiologist at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and co-author of the study, said they expected individuals to be spending more on treatments.
But their expectations were wrong. While total costs rose, "We were surprised to see that there wasn't a big increase in cost per person," she said.
Instead, they saw a shift in costs away from inpatient care to outpatient care, and mostly towards prescription medications.
The study saw a rise in the total amount spent by Americans on medical care for arthritic conditions: $80.8 billion in 2003 compared to $64.8 billion in 1997.
The authors attribute this increase to the growing population of the elderly. This is a big problem that experts say needs to be addressed now.
Dr. Lee Simon, associate clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, said that this study shows that the burden of disease continues to increase.
"Essentially the costs attributable to arthritis -- that economic drain -- are equivalent to a chronic low-grade recession," Murphy said.
And not only did people spend more to treat their arthritic conditions, but these same people also lost wages because of physical disability caused by their disease that did not allow them to work.
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