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Prevalence of joint-specific osteoarthritis and joint pain in British Columbia, Canada

  • Epidemiology of RMD
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Abstract

The objective is to determine the prevalence of self-reported physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis (OA) and musculoskeletal symptoms (pain, stiffness or discomfort) in specific joints among adults in British Columbia (BC), Canada. We carried out a cross-sectional mixed-mode survey in a random population sample of persons 18 years of age and older. Estimates were weighted to reflect the age and sex distribution of the population of BC. We obtained responses from 2,233 individuals. Overall, 18.4% (95% CI 16.8–20.1) of the adult population reported OA. Of those, more than 40% had OA in multiple sites. Prevalence ranged from 8.8% (95% CI 7.6–10.1) in the knee to 2.7% (2.1–3.5) in the foot. One-year prevalence of symptoms ranged from 49.1% (47.0–51.2) in the lower back to 23.3% (21.5–25.1) in the hip. Females reported more symptoms and OA than males in all joints. The most common site of self-reported physician-diagnosed OA in BC is the knee, but OA in the hands, hips, and feet is also common. Having OA in one joint is a strong predictor of OA in other joints.

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Funding

This work was supported by a grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, 230-2238 Yukon Street, Vancouver, BC, V5Y 3P2, Canada

    Jacek A. Kopec

  2. Government of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada

    Allison J. Heath

  3. Arthritis Research Canada, Vancouver, Canada

    Jacek A. Kopec, Eric C. Sayre, Jolanda Cibere, Linda C. Li & John M. Esdaile

  4. Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Jolanda Cibere

  5. Department of Physical Therapy, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Linda C. Li

  6. School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Carlo A. Marra

  7. Department of Medicine, Queens University, Kingston, Canada

    Ran R. Liu

Authors
  1. Jacek A. Kopec
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  2. Allison J. Heath
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  3. Eric C. Sayre
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  4. Jolanda Cibere
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  5. Linda C. Li
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  6. Carlo A. Marra
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  7. Ran R. Liu
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  8. John M. Esdaile
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Contributions

JAK designed the study, supervised data acquisition and analysis, and drafted the manuscript. AJH collected the data and reviewed and edited the manuscript. ECS analyzed the data, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. JC co-designed the study and reviewed and edited the manuscript. LCL co-designed the study and reviewed and edited the manuscript. CAM co-designed the study and reviewed and edited the manuscript. RRL helped collect the data and reviewed and edited the manuscript. JME co-designed, co-supervised and administered the study, and reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jacek A. Kopec.

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None declared.

Ethics approval

The study was approved by the University of British Columbia Behavioral Research Ethics Board (UBC BREB Number: H11-02246).

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All participants provided informed consent.

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Appendix

Appendix

see Figure A1

Figure. A1
figure 1

Prevalence (%) of self-reported physician-diagnosed OA of specific joints in the study sample according to age (males and females combined)

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Kopec, J.A., Heath, A.J., Sayre, E.C. et al. Prevalence of joint-specific osteoarthritis and joint pain in British Columbia, Canada. Rheumatol Int 42, 1623–1628 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-021-05031-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-021-05031-x

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