Arthritis 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:

• More than 40 million people in the US have some form of arthritis (one in every six people). 
• It is estimated that by the year 2020, 59 million people in the United States will have arthritis. 
• Rheumatic diseases are the leading cause of disability among persons age 65 and older.
• Approximately 20.7 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 75 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 2.1 million Americans and two to three times more women than men. Further, the average onset for rheumatoid arthritis is between the ages of 20 and 45 years old.
• Nine out of 10 people who have lupus are women, and lupus is three times more common in African-American women than Caucasian women.
• Nine out of 10 people who have fibromyalgia are women. Most commonly, fibromyalgia affects women of childbearing age.