Abstract
self-reported arthritis and those without arthritis reporting chronic or sporadic joint symptoms compared to those who have no arthritis and no joint symptoms. Methods: Data from the 2008 Canadian Community Health Survey (15+; n =66,013) were used for analyses. Respondents were asked about arthritis as a long-term chronic health condition diagnosed by a health professional. Participants not-reporting arthritis were asked about joint symptoms excluding back and neck over the past 12 months. Analyses were conducted for the following mutually exclusive groups: arthritis, chronic joint symptoms (symptoms present on most days in the past month), sporadic joint symptoms (other joint symptoms in the past 12 months (SJS)), and no arthritis and no joint symptoms (NJS). LogPoisson regression was used to determine risk factors for each of these groups. Similar regressions, adjusting for socio-demographic, lifestyle factors, and comorbidities were used to estimate the risks of reporting physical inactivity, health outcomes (poor/fair overall health, poor/fair mental health, activity limitation), and five measures of healthcare use. Results: 16.0% of the population reported arthritis, 10.1% reported CJS and 11.6% reported SJS. Individuals with arthritis were older than those with CJS or SJS. Women reported arthritis and CJS more often while men reported SJS. Other than age, the profile of risk factors for arthritis and CJS was similar, notably obesity and overweight. After adjusting for age, sex, SES, lifestyle factors and comorbidities, prevalence ratios showed similar risks for physical inactivity, health outcomes and health care use for the arthritis and CJS group, and these were higher than those for SJS group. Conclusions: CJS was reported by one-in-ten of the adult population. The similarities in risk factors, other than younger age, for CJS and arthritis suggest that the CJS group represent people in early stages of arthritis (based on population frequency most likely osteoarthritis) who have not yet being diagnosed. The impact that CJS has on health outcomes and increased healthcare use was similar to that of arthritis, suggesting that arthritis education and management interventions are likely beneficial for this group with possible unrecognized OA.
Published Version
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