According to sources from Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, a research team from the Department of Orthopedics and the Key Laboratory of Prevention and Treatment of Elderly Bone and Joint Diseases, Ministry of Education, has revealed the global burden of early onset osteoarthritis, filling the gap in epidemiological and health economic research in this field. The related findings were recently published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, with Professor Guanghua Lei, Chao Zeng, and Jie Wei from Xiangya Hospital as the co-corresponding authors, and Xiangya Hospital as the first and corresponding institution.
Osteoarthritis is a globally challenging disease traditionally associated with the elderly population. However, with the sharp rise in obesity and sports injuries among young and middle-aged people worldwide, it has shown a clear trend towards younger ages.
Diagnosed before the age of 55, osteoarthritis is considered early onset. Its course is prolonged, and once it progresses to the advanced stage, it often requires joint replacement surgery. However, the lifespan of artificial joint prostheses is limited, and the younger population tends to exert more pressure on their joints, leading to a revision rate of up to 35%. Therefore, understanding the global disease burden and economic losses of early onset osteoarthritis and implementing effective measures pose significant challenges in joint health management. However, there has been no research addressing these issues thus far.
To address this gap, the aforementioned team conducted a systematic analysis and visualization of the incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability (YLDs) of early onset osteoarthritis from 1990 to 2019 globally, based on the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, and other databases. They evaluated the economic losses of early onset osteoarthritis and calculated the YLDs burden attributed to overweight/obesity.
This study systematically analyzed the distribution and changing trends of early onset osteoarthritis over the past 30 years in different regions, joints, age groups, and genders, along with its economic losses and attributable risk factors. It was found that from 1990 to 2019, the number of cases, prevalence, YLDs, and corresponding age-standardized rates of early onset osteoarthritis globally have been increasing annually. Moreover, in 2019, early onset osteoarthritis led to global expenditures exceeding $106.8 billion, with productivity losses accounting for nearly 60%. The YLDs attributed to obesity-related early onset osteoarthritis increased by more than three times compared to 1990.
The Global Burden of Early-Onset Osteoarthritis in 2019: Insights from a Study
Illustration: YLDs (Years Lived with Disability) standardized by age for early-onset osteoarthritis in 2019.
This study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program, the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and the Clinical Research Project of the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, with guidance from Professor Hu Guoqing of the School of Public Health, Central South University.
Related paper information: https://doi.org/10.1136/ard-2023-225324
