Distribution of Arthritis Subtypes Among Adults With Arthritis in the United States, 2017-March 2020

Arthritis is a common chronic disease, affecting an estimated 53.2 million adults (21.2%) in the US. "Arthritis" is a general term, describing over 100 conditions with different etiologies, pathogeneses, symptoms, and treatments. Few studies have examined the prevalence and distribution of arthritis subtypes in the US.

We used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data from 2017 to March 2020 to estimate the prevalence of arthritis subtypes overall and by sociodemographic characteristics.

The overall prevalence of any type of diagnosed arthritis among US adults aged 20 years or older in this study was 27.9% (67.1 million). Among adults with diagnosed arthritis, osteoarthritis (49.6%, 33.2 million) was the most common arthritis subtype, followed by rheumatoid arthritis (15.8%, 10.6 million) and psoriatic arthritis (1.4%, 1.0 million). More than 1 in 10 reported some other type of unlisted arthritis (11.5%, 7.7 million), and 1 in 5 did not know their arthritis subtype (21.6%, 14.4 million). Prevalence of not knowing arthritis type was approximately 1 in 4 for adults identifying as non-Hispanic Black (26.7%) or other Hispanic (29.5%) and for adults who reported low family income (26.7%) and was approximately 1 in 3 for adults identifying as Mexican American (31.9%), having less than a high school education (31.8%), or not having health insurance (36.1%).

Understanding arthritis type is important for improving treatment, self-management, and health outcomes associated with arthritis. Improving organizational and personal health literacy are potential strategies that may reduce the prevalence of not knowing arthritis type.