J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad 2005;17(4)
LETTER TO EDITOR
CORRELATES OF SELF-REPORTED
ARTHRITIS IN ADULT PAKISTANI
POPULATION
Irshad Ali Shaikh, Masood Ali Shaikh
Chester Health Department, Chester, PA 19013, USA
Osteoarthritis is a common joint disease with high
morbidity and adverse economic impact on societies1.
The most common risk factors include age and
obesity2. To describe, age gender, literacy and
residency status associated with self reported arthritis
in adults and its prevalence in Pakistan, we used data
from the National Health Survey of Pakistan (NHSP)
1990-94; with written permission from the federal
Ministry of Health, Islamabad. We selected all the
adults aged 26 and above who responded to the
question “Have you ever had Arthritis?” individuals
responding affirmatively to this question were
identified as having arthritis. A two-stage stratified
sample design was adopted for NHSP3. Design-based
analysis with SUDAAN 9.01 was done using
Logistic
regression, Odds Ratios
(OR) were
computed for the association of arthritis with various
demographic variables.
The overall prevalence of arthritis 39%, and
95% Confidence Interval (CI) was 34%, 43% (n =
5851). In males arthritis prevalence was 30% 95% CI
25%, 34%, while prevalence in females was 47% CI
41%, 53%. Adults with arthritis were more likely to
be in the age group of 41 to 55 years (OR 1.58, 95%
CI 1.37, 1.82), and 56 years and above group (OR
1.84, 95% CI 1.60, 2.1) compared to 26-40 year age
group. Males were almost half as likely to report
arthritis compared to females (OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.40,
0.66). Arthritic adults were more likely to be rural
dwellers (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.12, 2.08) compared to
urban dwellers, and compared to literate adults
(defined as being able to read and write) adults who
were not literate were more likely to report arthritis
(OR 1.73, 95% CI 1.41, 2.12). While compared to
single adults, married adults were more likely to
report arthritis (OR 1.61, 95% CI 1.36, 2.28), no
statisticall