- More than 4 million Canadians have arthritis - that's more than the population of Toronto. It's one of Canada's most common chronic conditions.
- Arthritis does not only affect the elderly: the average age of onset is between 41 and 50. Infants as young as 18 months have been diagnosed with the disease.
- There are 115 different forms of arthritis. Approximately 33% of Canadians over the age of 65 have osteoarthritis. Our aging population means that this figure could double in the next 20 years.
- The rapid increase in the number of Canadians with arthritis is equivalent to 100,000 per year, or 8,000 per month, 2,000 per week, or 300 per day.
- Some forms of arthritis strike women more often than men: three times as many women have rheumatoid arthritis, and 90% of all lupus patients are women. 21% of adult women have some form of arthritis.
- Arthritis is expensive. It consumes more than 10% of Canada's total health care expenditures. When combined with lost productivity, arthritis costs Canadians over $5.8 billion annually.
- Canadian resources devoted to arthritis research total less than 1% of the direct costs of the disease.
- Arthritis is the most common cause of long-term disability in Ontario. Half of all those disabled by the disease are unable to work at all. Over 2.7 million workdays are lost each year due to restricted activity caused by arthritis.
- Three-quarters of those who are disabled by the disease are dependent on others to meet many of their needs.
(Arthritis facts from AARC and The Arthritis Society)
