The study shows an increase in the proportion of adults in England diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis

The study shows an increase in the proportion of adults in England diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis

The proportion of adults in England diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis rose by at least 40% between 2004 and 2020, a new study from Keele University has found.

Inflammatory arthritis groups together diseases that cause joint pain and swelling. Its three main types – rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis – cause long-term pain and disability and impose high costs on the UK economy. The sooner people with inflammatory arthritis receive specialist treatment, the better their outcomes.

Under the direction of Dr. Ian Scott from the School of Medicine at Keele University and the Midlands Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), this study published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe looked at the proportion of adults in England diagnosed with one of these three conditions in each year from 2004 to 2020.

Planning NHS services to provide early and appropriate specialist treatment to patients with inflammatory arthritis requires an understanding of how many people in England suffer from these conditions. To address this, the research team examined data from a large GP database - the Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum - which currently contains information from over 1,400 GP practices in 20% of England. They examined data from 2004 to 2020 to understand how the prevalence of inflammatory arthritis diagnoses has changed over that time.

They found that the proportion of adults in England with a diagnosis of one of these forms of inflammatory arthritis increased by at least 40% over the study period. This meant that in 2020, over 1% of adults and over 2.5% of over-65s in England had a diagnosis of one of these conditions in their GP records.

Our findings have significant implications for the NHS in England. Many studies have shown that the sooner people with inflammatory arthritis are treated by a specialist, the better they will be treated, and it is very important that people with new-onset inflammatory arthritis or a flare-up of their arthritis are seen quickly. Organizing NHS services to make this possible is vital.

Our results show that these diseases occur more frequently in people over 65 years of age. This highlights the need to consider older people when planning NHS arthritis services. In particular, we need to ensure that the widespread shift to online healthcare does not impact older people with arthritis, as other studies have shown that they are less likely to use the internet and have the essential digital skills to access it independently.”

Dr. Ian Scott, lead author

Source:

Keele University

Reference:

Scott, IC, et al. (2022) Rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis epidemiology in England from 2004 to 2020: An observational study using primary care electronic health records. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe. doi.org/10.1016/j.lanepe.2022.100519.

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