There Are Over 100 Types of Arthritis
The term arthritis (“arthro” meaning joint, “itis” meaning inflammation) is used to refer to more than 100 related conditions. Generally, there are two types of arthritis:
- Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and related diseases, which are immune-mediated systemic inflammatory joint diseases. It is estimated that one million Canadians live with inflammatory types of arthritis.
- Osteoarthritis (OA), which is a degenerative joint disease whose onset is mediated by previous joint injury or other factors. More than 10 per cent of Canadian adults are affected by OA, which is the most prevalent type of arthritis. Joint damage caused by OA accounts for more than 80 per cent of hip replacement surgery and over 90 per cent of knee replacements in Canada.
4.6 Million Canadians Have Arthritis
- 4.6 million, or one in six, Canadians aged 15 years and older report having arthritis. By 2031, approximately seven million Canadians (one in five) are expected to have arthritis.
- Arthritis can strike anyone at anytime, regardless of age, physical condition or ethnic background.
- Two-thirds of those affected with arthritis are women.
- Among all causes of disability in Canada, arthritis ranks first among women and second among men.
61,500 Canadian Children and Youth Have Arthritis
Juvenile arthritis (JA) is one of the more common disorders resulting in chronic disability in children and adolescents in Canada. JA can be defined as continuous inflammation (pain, stiffness and swelling) of one or more joints lasting at least six weeks for which no other cause can be found.
- Approximately 61,500 Canadian children and youth have arthritis. In 2007-8, 15,476 Canadians aged 15-19 and 40,301Canadians aged 20-24 were reported as living with JA.
- Estimates place the number of children 0-14 living with arthritis at 1/1000 or approximately 5,700.
Arthritis Costs The Canadian Economy $33 Billion/Year.
- A recent report estimates that arthritis may cost the Canadian economy more than $33 billion annually.
- Nearly three of every five people with arthritis are of working age (under 65).
- Over a quarter of men and women with arthritis aged between 25 and 44 years are not in the labour force because of their disease.
- Over six per cent of total hospitalizations in Canada are associated with arthritis.
- Approximately 14 per cent of Canadians over the age of 15 make at least one visit to a physician for a reason owing to arthritis; in 2005-06, arthritis accounted for about 8.5 million such visits in Canada.
- More Canadians have died from arthritis and related conditions than from melanoma, asthma or HIV/AIDS. Almost 1,000 Canadians died from arthritis in 2005. Women are about three times as likely as men to die from arthritis.