This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Rheumatology, Other  • Immunologic Disorders  • Rheumatoid Arthritis  • Alert me on articles by topic

JAMA. 2007;297:1649-1650.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

MMWR. 2007;56:4-7

2 tables omitted

Arthritis is the leading cause of disability in the United States,¹ potentially limiting affected persons from walking a few blocks or climbing a flight of stairs. Using Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) data, CDC analyzed national and state-specific direct costs (i.e., medical expenditures) and indirect costs (i.e., lost earnings) attributable to arthritis and other rheumatic conditions (AORC) in the United States during 2003. This report describes the results of that analysis, which indicated that, in 2003, the total cost of AORC in the United States was approximately $128 billion ($80.8 billion in direct and $47.0 billion in indirect costs), equivalent to 1.2% of the 2003 U.S. gross domestic product. Total costs attributable to AORC, by state/area, ranged from $225.5 million in the District of Columbia to $12.1 billion in California. Total costs attributable to AORC have increased substantially since 1997,² and that increase is expected . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Reported by: