Arthritis in America: One in Four Adults, and the Pain That Keeps Them Still

Every May is Arthritis Awareness Month, led by the Arthritis Foundation. CDC marked it in 2019 with a look at how many Americans live with arthritis, and how it holds them back.

How common

• Arthritis affects an estimated 54.4 million U.S. adults — about one in four.
• About 27% of them have severe joint pain.
• Arthritis is linked to higher rates of physical inactivity.

Who and where

A 2019 CDC report on each state found that:

• arthritis is more common among American Indian and Alaska Native adults than any other racial or ethnic group;
• it is most prevalent in Appalachia and the Lower Mississippi Valley;
• in every state, severe joint pain and physical inactivity were common among adults with arthritis — especially in the Southeast, and most of all among adults who were disabled or unable to work.

Pain and movement

Adults with arthritis and severe joint pain were more likely to be physically inactive than those with no pain or mild to moderate pain — even though physical activity eases arthritis pain over time. CDC supports evidence-based lifestyle programs proven to help adults with arthritis get moving and live better: see its pages on physical activity for arthritis and the programs it recommends.

Sources

Based on "Arthritis Awareness Month — May 2019," MMWR Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report volume 68, number 17, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. The figures come from Barbour KE and others, MMWR 2017 and 2016, and Guglielmo D and others, "State-Specific Severe Joint Pain and Physical Inactivity Among Adults with Arthritis — United States, 2017," MMWR 2019.