In 2010-2012, almost 23% of the adult population had physician-diagnosed arthritis and almost 10% had some form of activity limitation attributable to their arthritis, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
The figures for adults aged 18 years and older with heart disease, diabetes, and obesity were even higher. Data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) put arthritis prevalence at 49% for those with heart disease, 47% for those with diabetes, and 31% for those who are obese, according to the CDC (MMWR 2013;62:869-73).
Among patients with heart disease, nearly 27% had arthritis-attributable activity limitation, as did almost 26% of those with diabetes and just over 15% of those who were obese, the CDC said.
The estimate of 52.5 million adults with arthritis "is consistent with an earlier projection and suggests that projections of 55.7 million adults with arthritis by 2015 and 67 million by 2030 are reasonable," the CDC noted, adding that the projected number of those with activity limitations (22.7 million), however, "exceeds the earlier projection of 22 million adults ... by 2020 and, therefore, might exceed the 25 million projected for 2030."