Prevalence of Arthritis in U.S. Adults 18.9 Percent in 2022

FRIDAY, March 1, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- The age-adjusted prevalence of adults with arthritis was 18.9 percent in 2022 in the United States, according to a February data brief published by the National Center for Health Statistics.

Nazik Elgaddal, from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, and colleagues used data from the 2022 National Health Interview Survey to describe the percentage of adults aged 18 years and older with diagnosed arthritis by selected sociodemographic characteristics.

The researchers found that the age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed arthritis was 18.9 percent in 2022, with women more likely than men to have arthritis (21.5 versus 16.1 percent). Arthritis increased with increasing age, from 3.6 to 53.9 percent in those aged 18 to 34 years and 75 years and older, respectively. Compared with Hispanic and Asian non-Hispanic adults, Black non-Hispanic, White non-Hispanic, and other and multiple race non-Hispanic adults were more likely to have arthritis. There was a decrease seen in the prevalence of arthritis with increasing family income, from 24.7 to 16.6 percent for those with family income <100 percent of the federal poverty level and at ≥400 percent of the federal poverty level, respectively. There was an increase observed in the percentage of adults with arthritis with declining urbanization level, and variation was noted by region.

"Asian adults were less likely than adults of all other racial and ethnic groups to have arthritis," the authors write. "Adults living in nonmetropolitan areas were most likely to have arthritis, and the prevalence decreased with increasing urbanization level."

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