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and among women with large waist circumference, African Americans were at

greater risk for poor outcome by every measure, adjusting for age, education,

and income. Modifiable factors that may help to explain these findings include

comorbidity, depressive symptoms, and knee pain. Targeting such factors, while

supporting weight loss, may help to lessen the outcome disparity between African

American and White women.

Gender and Ethnic Musculoskeletal Disparities

Hispanics, African Americans, and women are disproportionately affected by both obesity and

osteoarthritis, which is characterized by the breakdown of cartilage that acts as a cushion at

the ends of bones.

Osteoarthritis and Obesity Among Women:

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• 61% of arthritis sufferers are women.

• Women represent 64% of an estimated 43 million visits to physicians’ offices and

outpatient clinics in a single year, where arthritis was the primary diagnosis.

• Women represent 60% of approximately one million hospitalizations that

occurred in 2003 for which arthritis was the primary diagnosis.

Osteoarthritis and Obesity Among African Americans and Hispanics

It’s interesting to note that although the

prevalence of arthritis is

lower

among Blacks and

Hispanics/Latinos than among Whites, the

impact is worse

.

Scientists from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

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combined data from

the 2002, 2003, and 2006 National Health Interview Survey (n = 85,784) and, after adjusting

for age, sex, and body mass index, compared racial/ethnic differences. Arthritis-attributable

activity limitation, arthritis-attributable work limitation, and severe joint pain were higher for

non-Hispanic/Latino Blacks, Hispanics, and multiracial or other respondents with arthritis

compared with non-Hispanic/Latino Whites with arthritis.

Impact of Arthritis on Blacks and Hispanics:

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• 1.3 times as likely as Whites to have activity limitation

• 1.8 to 1.9 times as likely as Whites to have severe joint pain, and

• 1.6 to 1.7 times as likely as Whites to have work limitation.

The researchers note that reasons for racial/ethnic differences are unknown but speculate

that they may be related to healthcare access, use of healthcare services, language barriers,

differences in the prevalence of risk factors for arthritis and related disability (eg, obesity,

physically demanding jobs), and cultural differences in the understanding of survey questions,

willingness to report limitation and pain, and variations in patterns of medication use and self-

management approaches to pain control.

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