ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM
Vol. 58, No. 1, January 2008, pp 15–25
DOI 10.1002/art.23177
© 2008, American College of Rheumatology
Estimates of the Prevalence of Arthritis and
Other Rheumatic Conditions in the United States
Part I
Charles G. Helmick,1 David T. Felson,2 Reva C. Lawrence,3 Sherine Gabriel,4
Rosemarie Hirsch,5 C. Kent Kwoh,6 Matthew H. Liang,7 Hilal Maradit Kremers,4
Maureen D. Mayes,8 Peter A. Merkel,2 Stanley R. Pillemer,9 John D. Reveille,8 and
John H. Stone,10 for the National Arthritis Data Workgroup
Objective. To provide a single source for the best
available estimates of the US prevalence of and number
of individuals affected by arthritis overall, rheumatoid
arthritis, juvenile arthritis, the spondylarthritides, sys-
temic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and Sjö-
gren’s syndrome. A companion article (part II) ad-
dresses additional conditions.
Methods. The National Arthritis Data Workgroup
reviewed published analyses from available national
surveys, such as the National Health and Nutrition
Examination Survey and the National Health Interview
Survey (NHIS). For analysis of overall arthritis, we used
the NHIS. Because data based on national population
samples are unavailable for most specific rheumatic
conditions, we derived estimates from published studies
of smaller, defined populations. For specific conditions,
the best available prevalence estimates were applied to
the corresponding 2005 US population estimates from
the Census Bureau, to estimate the number affected
with each condition.
Results. More than 21% of US adults (46.4 million
persons) were found to have self-reported doctor-
diagnosed arthritis. We estimated that rheumatoid ar-
thritis affects 1.3 million adults (down from the estimate
of 2.1 million for 1995), juvenile arthritis affects 294,000
children, spondylarthritides affect from 0.6 million to
2.4 million adults, systemic lupus erythematosus affects
from 161,000 to 322,000 adults, systemic sclerosis af-
fects 49,000 adults, and primary Sjögren’s syndrome
affects from