BACKGROUND: Arthritis is the most common cause of disability affecting 53 million adults in United States and is projected to increase to 78 million by the year 2040. Severe joint pain impacts activity and quality of life. Data on severe joint pain among arthritis adults will help public health officials incorporate strategies to reduce barriers to pain care and dissemination of evidence-based interventions to improve the quality of lives of adults with arthritis. This study will examine the prevalence of severe joint pain among adults with arthritis by selected socio-demographics and health characteristics in Kansans.
METHODS: Data from the 2015 Kansas BRFSS were analyzed to assess prevalence of severe joint pain among Kansas adults with arthritis in various population subgroups. Among adults with arthritis, respondents were asked to “Please think about the past 30 days, keeping in mind all of your joint pain or aching and whether or not you have taken medication. During the past 30 days, how bad was your joint pain on average? Please answer on a scale of 0 to 10 where 0 is no pain or aching and 10 is pain or aching as bad as it can be.” Severe joint pain was defined as a response greater than or equal to 7. Prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. Weighted analysis procedures were applied using SAS 9.3 software.
RESULTS: An estimated 537,154 (24.5%) Kansas adults have doctor-diagnosed arthritis. Among adults with arthritis, prevalence of severe joint pain was 25.7% (138,048). Higher prevalence of severe joint pain was seen among females (29.2%), adults aged 45-54 years (31.7%), African Americans (50.7%), those with annual household income less than $15,000 (57.1%), those with less than a high school education (44.9%) and those who were out of work (58.6%) or unable to work (63.2%). Further, higher prevalence was also seen among adults with self-perceived poor or fair general health (48.6%), obesity (31.0%), current smoking (39.3%), no leisure time physical activity (36.7%), heart disease (37.4%), diabetes (36.1%), and depression (39.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: Severe joint pain among those with arthritis is prevalent in Kansas. Disparities among those with severe joint pain exist within socio-demographic sub groups. Self-perceived poor or fair general health, depression, obesity, current smoking, other chronic diseases and risk factors are higher among those with severe joint pain. This population-based information indicates the need of public health strategies to address issues related to severe joint pain among Kansas adults with arthritis.