Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Diseases Statistics

The following statistics are from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the Arthritis Foundation:

• Nearly 47 million people in the US have some form of arthritis or chronic joint symptoms.

• Rheumatic diseases are the leading cause of disability among persons age 65 and older.

• Approximately 26.9 million adults in the United States have the most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, also called degenerative joint disease. Most persons over the age of 65 are affected with osteoarthritis in at least one joint, making this condition a leading cause of disability in the US.

• Rheumatoid arthritis, the most crippling form of arthritis, affects approximately 1.3 million Americans. Further, the average onset for rheumatoid arthritis is between the ages of 30 and 50 years old.

• Lupus affects women about six to 10 times as often as men.

• Fibromyalgia affects about 2 percent to 4 percent of the US population.