ATLANTA, Georgia—Large numbers of employees in every state report work limitations due to arthritis, according to the first state-by-state breakdown of arthritis-attributable work limitation. The report, which was compiled by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, appears in the October issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.¹

"With the increasing number of older Americans in the nation's workforce, it is important that employers, health departments, and others take steps that help people with arthritis stay employed or become employed," said Janet Collins, PhD, director of the CDC's National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.

Researchers compiled state-by-state statistics using data from a 2003 CDC survey of almost 350,000 adults aged 18 to 64 on the percentage with arthritis-related work limitations. The findings ranged from a low 3.4% in Hawaii to a high 15% in Kentucky, with a median 6.7% among all states. Among working-age adults with arthritis, a median 33% reported that the disease was severe enough to limit ability to work (from 25.1% in Nevada to 51.3 % in Kentucky).

Accordingly, employees experience arthritis-related work limitations in the following top 10 states:
 

1. Kentucky 51.3%
2. Mississippi 44.7%
3. Oklahoma 41.9%
4. Missouri 41.8%
5. West Virginia 41.7%
6. Tennessee 40.5%
7. Guam 40.2%
8. Arkansas 40%
9. North Carolina 39.1%
10. Georgia 39%

"In every state, persons with work limitations attributed to arthritis reported being employed less frequently than working-age adults in the state overall and [less frequently than] persons [who have] arthritis but [do not experience] work limitations," the study authors write. "Greater use of interventions is needed to help persons with arthritis become and stay employed."
   
Doctors must address work issues caused by arthritis

John H. Klippel, MD, president and CEO of Arthritis Foundation in Atlanta, said that the new findings "underscore the magnitiude of the problem."

Exactly why workers in some states have higher rates of arthritis-attributable work limitations is not yet understood. However, "these are states in which the workforce is largely blue collar/manual labor," Dr. Klippel suggested. "All rheumatologists need to pay more attention to work limitations caused by arthritis. This should be part of the active dialogue between rheumatologists and their patients."

Reducing missed days of work and keeping patients working should be treatment goals. "For some patients, this may require discussion about changes in employment from a job that their arthritis is limiting to one where their arthritis won't interfere with their ability to work," Dr. Klippel ended.

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