A new article from a group of American researchers describes the great burden of disease caused by osteoarthritis.

The authors write that about 528 million people around the world are affected by osteoarthritis. The incidence of the disease is higher in countries with higher average age and with a higher incidence of overweight and obesity, such as the United States.

Osteoarthritis has been described as the 15th most common cause of so-called “years lived with disability” (YLDs) in the world, which is a measure used to shed light on the burden of various diseases on society. According to the researchers, the economic costs caused by the disease correspond to about 1-2.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP) in most countries.

In Sweden, this would correspond to between approximately SEK 48-120 billion per year (Sweden's GDP in 2020 was SEK 4,799 billion). These costs include direct medical costs for, for example, medicines as well as indirect costs for, among other things, sick leave and sickness and activity compensation (formerly called disability pension).

For the individual affected patient in the USA, the researchers estimate that the cost is between 700 to 15,600 US dollars per year (this corresponds to approximately 6,000 to 130,000 Swedish kronor).

The burden in the future is expected to increase for most countries in Europe and North America.