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BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders
Published in: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 1/2015

Open Access 01-12-2015 | Research article

Arthritis has an impact on the daily lives of Canadians young and old: results from a population-based survey

Authors: Siobhan O’Donnell, Corneliu Rusu, Gillian A. Hawker, Sasha Bernatsky, Louise McRae, Mayilee Canizares, Crystal MacKay, Elizabeth M. Badley

Published in: BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders | Issue 1/2015

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Abstract

Background

There is a perception that the impacts of arthritis are greatest among older adults. However, the effect of age on health-related outcomes in individuals with arthritis has not been explicitly studied. This study examined whether the physical and mental health impacts of arthritis are greater in older (75+ years) versus younger (20–44, 45–64 and 65–74 years) Canadian adults.

Methods

Data were from the arthritis component of the 2009 Survey on Living with Chronic Diseases in Canada. The responses were weighted to be representative of Canadians (≥20 years) with arthritis. Associations between age and the prevalence of severe/frequent joint pain, severe/frequent fatigue, sleep limitations, instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) limitations, high levels of stress, suboptimal general and suboptimal mental health, were examined descriptively prior to conducting multivariate log-binomial regression analyses.

Results

A total of 4565 respondents completed the survey (78 % response rate). Individuals with arthritis were mostly female (63 %), of working age (57 %) and overweight or obese (67 %). Upon adjusting for covariates, younger (20–44 years) and/or middle aged (45–64 years) adults were more likely than those older (75+ years) to report severe/frequent joint pain, sleep limitations, high levels of stress and suboptimal mental health. After adjusting for covariates, age was not associated with IADL limitations, severe/frequent fatigue or suboptimal general health.

Conclusions

Contrary to the belief that older adults with arthritis experience more severe physical and mental health outcomes, we found that older adults were less likely to report worse outcomes than younger adults. In light of these findings, public health messaging should stress that arthritis does not just affect the elderly and emphasize the importance of timely diagnosis and management at all ages in order to prevent or, minimize arthritis-related impairment.
Footnotes
1
The 2008 CCHS used three sampling frames to select the sample of households: 49 % of the sample of households came from an area frame, 50 % came from a list frame of telephone numbers and the remaining 1 % came from a Random Digit Dialling sampling frame. More details regarding the CCHS can be found here: http://​www23.​statcan.​gc.​ca/​imdb/​p2SV.​pl?​Function=​getSurvey&​SDDS=​3226
 
3
Statistics Canada performed adjustments to the weights of responding persons to account for the loss of excluded or non-responding persons that are part of the SLCDC target population: http://​www23.​statcan.​gc.​ca/​imdb-bmdi/​pub/​document/​5160_​D5_​T1_​V1-eng.​htm
 
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Metadata
Title
Arthritis has an impact on the daily lives of Canadians young and old: results from a population-based survey
Authors
Siobhan O’Donnell
Corneliu Rusu
Gillian A. Hawker
Sasha Bernatsky
Louise McRae
Mayilee Canizares
Crystal MacKay
Elizabeth M. Badley
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders / Issue 1/2015
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2474
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12891-015-0691-2

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