TOPLINE:

More than one third of US adults with arthritis reported work limitations, with no significant change in prevalence between 2019 and 2023. Prevalence of arthritis-attributable work limitations was high among Hispanic adults, non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native adults, those with difficulty walking or climbing stairs, and those with chronic health conditions.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the National Health Interview Survey to estimate the national prevalence of arthritis-attributable work limitations among US adults with arthritis (age, 18-64 years).
• They analyzed data from 3626 adults in 2019 and 2953 adults in 2023 who reported being diagnosed with arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gout, or fibromyalgia.
• Participants were classified as having arthritis-attributable work limitations if arthritis affected their work, including the type or amount of work they did.
• Data were collected for demographic factors and health-related characteristics (including self-reported health, chronic conditions, and difficulty climbing stairs or self-care), and the participants were screened for mental health conditions.
• Data were age-standardized across four age groups (18-34, 35-44, 45-54, and 55-64 years) using the 2000 US projected adult population.

TAKEAWAY:

• In 2023, the age-standardized prevalence of arthritis-attributable work limitations among US adults was 38.8%, with such limitations estimated to affect 9.8 million adults with arthritis.
• Higher prevalences of work limitations were observed among Hispanic (50.1%) and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native adults (55.9%) vs non-Hispanic White adults (35.6%), those with less than a high school education vs those with a college degree or higher education (51.1% vs 26.0%), and adults with poor or near-poor income vs those with high income (55.5% vs 24.2%).
• Veterans had a higher likelihood of reporting work limitations related to arthritis than nonveterans (52.5% vs 37.8%). Adults with poor or fair health (61.1%); difficulty walking or climbing stairs (68.5%); a history of heart disease (61.5%), stroke (77.7%), or cancer (67.1%); or anxiety (60.6%) or depression (63.8%) had a higher prevalence of work limitations than their healthier counterparts or those without the condition (P <.05 for all).
• The age-standardized prevalence of arthritis-attributable work limitations remained largelyunchanged from 2019 (38.1%) to 2023 (38.8%), not yet meeting the Healthy People 2030 goal to reduce the proportion of adults with arthritis-attributable work limitations.

IN PRACTICE:

“[T]hese findings show the significant public health impact of arthritis in terms of AAWL [arthritis-attributable work limitations], work disability, and disability status,” the authors wrote.“Continued multisectoral public health efforts may reduce the prevalence of AAWL,” they added.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Daniel K. White, PT, ScD, University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware. It was published online on October 24, 2025, in Arthritis Care & Research.

LIMITATIONS:

The study’s cross-sectional design limited the ability to determine causality between sociodemographic and health variables and arthritis-attributable work limitations. Data were self-reported and may be subject to recall and social desirability biases.The exclusion of certain populations, such as active military personnel or adults living in nursing facilities, may limit the generalizability of the findings.

DISCLOSURES:

One author reported being awarded a contract by the CDC to help with the analysis and composition of this manuscript, serving as an Associate Editor for Arthritis Care & Research, and being on Data Safety Monitoring Boards. Another author reported receiving support from the CDC, with the work completed as part of professional responsibilities, and working as a part-time instructor at Baylor University.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.