Higher U.S. arthritis due to obesity

TORONTO, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The higher prevalence of arthritis in the United States may be a consequence of greater U.S. obesity and physical inactivity, Canadian researchers say.

Researchers from the Toronto Western Research Institute noted a higher prevalence of arthritis and arthritis-attributable activity limitations in the U.S. population versus the Canadian population.

The National Arthritis Data Workgroup said that in 2005 more than 21 percent of U.S. adults had arthritis or another rheumatic condition and more than 60 percent of arthritis patients were women.

The 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey reported 15.3 percent, or 4.3 million of Canadians had some form of arthritis, with more women than men affected.

The researchers analyzed results from the Joint Canada/United States Survey of Health conducted in cooperation with Statistics Canada and the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics from 2002-2003. Data were obtained for 3,505 Canadians and 5,183 Americans.

The study, scheduled to be published in the March issue of Arthritis Care & Research, found in the United States the prevalence of arthritis was 18.7 percent and attributable activity limitations was 9.6 percent, while equivalent estimates in Canada were 16.8 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.