Newsroom

If you need help with a story, or would like to be added to the ACR press notification list, please , and include your name, news organization affiliation, e-mail address (and deadline if requesting story assistance).

Press registration for the ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting is now open. Learn more.

If you are a member of the press and wish to receive news alerts for papers published in our journals, Arthritis & Rheumatism or Arthritis Care & Research, prior to their online publication, please contact Amy Molnar at (201) 748-8844 or by e-mail at .

Press Releases: 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004

Background Information on Arthritis and Rheumatology | Prevalence Statistics

Background Information on Arthritis and Rheumatology

About the ACR | What is a rheumatologist?

Fact sheets on common forms of arthritis
Position papers on various issues, both treatment and public policy
Classification criteria for several rheumatic conditions
Treatment guidelines for the most commonly seen rheumatic conditions
Arthritis & Rheumatism, the official journal of the ACR
Arthritis Care & Research, the official journal of the ARHP
The Rheumatologist, the official newsmagazine of the ACR
Political advocacy hot issues
Bibliography of References commonly used in rheumatic disease research
ACR Mission Statement

Prevalence Statistics

Background
The National Arthritis Data Workgroup recently reviewed data from national and regional surveys to estimate national prevalence rates of various rheumatic diseases based on 2005 U.S. Census data.

The results were published in an article titled, “Estimates of the Prevalence of Arthritis and Other Rheumatic Conditions in the United States” in the January 2008 issue of Arthritis & Rheumatism. Part one of the article was published on pages 15 – 25 and part two was published on pages 26 – 35. If you are unable to download the article, send an e-mail with your fax number to .

A summary of the article is as follows:

All forms of arthritis – 21% (46.4 million) U.S. adults
Rheumatoid arthritis – 1.3 million U.S. adults
Juvenile arthritis – 294,000 people in the U.S.
Spondylarthritides – 0.6 to 2.4 million U.S. adults over 15
Systemic lupus erythematosus – 161,000 to 322,000 U.S. adults
Systemic sclerosis – 49,000 U.S. adults
Sjögren’s syndrome – 0.4 to 3.1 million adults
Clinical osteoarthritis – 27 million U.S. people age 25 and older
Polymyalgia rheumatica – 711,000 people in the U.S.
Giant cell arteritis – 228,000 people in the U.S.
Gout – three million people in the U.S.
Fibromyalgia – five million people in the U.S.
Carpal tunnel syndrome – four to 10 million people in the U.S.
Low back pain– 59 million within the three months prior to the study
Neck pain – 30.1 million within the three months prior to the study