Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions affect around three out of ten of the UK population, an estimated 18.8 million people in 2017. This accounts for more than 22 per cent of the nation’s total health burden.1
Arthritis – conditions involving inflamed or damaged joints and usually associated with pain – is a significant part of this. Around 8.75 million people each year seek treatment for osteoarthritis (OA), and 430,000 people have rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition, 222,000 people have ankylosing spondylitis, 12,000 children have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and around 1.6 million people have gout.
OA is the primary reason for hip and knee replacements in 90-98 per cent of cases, so it is unsurprising that the overall healthcare cost for treating OA and RA is estimated at over £10 billion a year. It is also predicted that the cost of working days lost to OA and RA could rise to £3.4 billion by the end of the decade.