Musculoskeletal conditions are a major burden on individuals, health systems, and social care systems, with indirect costs being predominant. This burden has been recognized by the United Nations and WHO, by endorsing the Bone and Joint Decade 2000-2010. This paper describes the burden of four major musculoskeletal conditions: osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, and low back pain. Osteoarthritis, which is characterized by loss of joint cartilage that leads to pain and loss of function primarily in the knees and hips, affects 9.6% of men and 18% of women aged > 60 years. Increases in life expectancy and ageing populations are expected to make osteoarthritis the fourth leading cause of disability by the year 2020. Joint replacement surgery, where available, provides effective relief. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory condition that usually affects multiple joints. It affects 0.3-1.0% of the general population and is more prevalent among women and in developed countries. Persistent inflammation leads to joint destruction, but the disease can be controlled with drugs. The incidence may be on the decline, but the increase in the number of older people in some regions makes it difficult to estimate future prevalence. Osteoporosis, which is characterized by low bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration, is a major risk factor for fractures of the hip, vertebrae, and distal forearm. Hip fracture is the most detrimental fracture, being associated with 20% mortality and 50% permanent loss in function. Low back pain is the most prevalent of musculoskeletal conditions; it affects nearly everyone at some point in time and about 4-33% of the population at any given point. Cultural factors greatly influence the prevalence and prognosis of low back pain.

/pdf/burden-of-major-musculoskeletal-conditions-1xayk0ikb2.pdf

Burden of major musculoskeletal conditions

https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lancet/PIIS0140673602086579.pdf

Epidemiology and outcomes of osteoporotic fractures.

VER THE YEARS many definitions of osteoporosis have been 0 offered to describe variously the outcome events (fragility fractures), the process giving rise to porous bones, or the resultant diminution of bone mass. More consistency has been achieved in recent years by the development of definitions that cover the spectrum of its manifestations. from the reduced amount of bone present to some of the consequences of bone loss. A consensus development conference statement defined osteoporosis as "a disease characterized by low bonc mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone tissue, leading to enhanced bone fragility and a consequent increase in fracture risk."'" The definition has survived the rigors of the most recent consensus development confcrence."' There are, however, a number of problems which need to be addressed in adapting a conceptual definition for clinical use. Some of these problems were recently discussed by an expert panel of the World Health Organization."' This paper summarizes these issues and proposes diagnostic criteria for osteoporosis for practical use.

The diagnosis of osteoporosis

Summary
This report describes the epidemiology, burden, and treatment of osteoporosis in the 27 countries of the European Union (EU27).

/pdf/osteoporosis-in-the-european-union-medical-management-5gi5e439ck.pdf

Osteoporosis in the European Union: medical management, epidemiology and economic burden. A report prepared in collaboration with the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA).

Fracture incidence and association with bone mineral density in elderly men and women: the Rotterdam Study.

We assessed the incidence of hip fracture and ecological correlates in residents of 14 communities in six countries of Southern Europe. Hip fracture cases were recorded prospectively in defined catchment areas over a 1-year interval. A retrospective questionnaire was used to assess ecological differences between communities. During a 1-year period of observation a total of 3629 men and women over the age of 50 years were identified with hip fracture from a catchment of 3 million. In all communities the fracture rate increased exponentially with age. There were large and significant differences between centres in the doubling time for hip fracture risk with age and in crude and age-standardized rates. Greater than 4-fold and 13-fold differences in age-standardized risk were found amongst men and women respectively. The lowest rates were observed from Turkey and the highest from Seville, Crete and Porto. Fractures were significantly more frequent among women than men with the exception of three rural Turkish centres. Indeed, in rural Turkey the normal female/male ratio was reserved. Variations in incidence between regions were greater than the differences within centres between sexes, and there was a close and significant correlation between incidence rates for men and those for women in the regions studied. Excess female morbidity increased progressively from the age of 50 years but attained a plateau after the age of 80 years, suggesting a finite duration of the effect of the menopause. The retrospective questionnaire completed by 80% of cases suggested that differences in incidence between the communities studied could not be explained by differences in gonadal status in women. In both men and women cross-cultural associations were found with factors related to age or socioeconomic prosperity, the majority of which disappeared after adjustment for age. We conclude that there are marked and sizeable differences in the incidence rates of hip fracture throughout Southern Europe. The reasons for these differences are not known but affect both men and women, and are likely to be related to lifestyle or genetic factors rather than to differences in endocrine status.

The variable incidence of hip fracture in southern Europe: the MEDOS Study.

Popular Tasks used by Researchers

How can I help with your research?

Get more enhanced response by uploading the PDFs you want me to reference.

No relevant PDFs in your library

SciSpace is the AI research assistant for academics. Run systematic literature reviews on 280M+ papers, and write papers with cited sources. Trusted by 1M+ students, PhDs & researchers.

SciSpace | AI for Research

We encountered an error while loading the panel. Please try refreshing the page.

Something went wrong

Analyze PDFs

Code & Manuscripts

Funding & Grants

Literature & Patents

Medical & Clinical Data

Systematic Review

Visualize & Present

Web & Data

Build a Google Scholar-like website for your research.

Build a website

Create charts and images for your research

Create a Chart

Write a paper for submission to a journal

Draft a manuscript

Patent Search

Design eye-catching scientific posters in minutes.

Scientific Poster Generation

Systematic Literature Review

Anyone with the link can view this chat. You can switch it back to private anytime.

One task is running at the moment. Your messages will be shown right after.

Drag and drop or click here to browse

Loved by <highlight>1 million+</highlight> researchers

Extract a list of specific topics and their sources from unstructured text

Topics

Compare and analyze relevant papers that matches with your search

Papers

Get insights from PDFs and bookmarked papers from your library

My library

Recent searches

Try searching for:

Catch AI-generated content in scholarly and non-scholarly content

{ai} Detector

Ai Writer

Get PDF Summaries, highlighted text explanations 

Chat with PDF

Effortlessly create in-text citations and bibliographies in APA and 2,500 other formats

Citation generator

Get explanations, summaries, and answers on academic papers

Ease up your research workflow with {scispace}'s cohort of exciting AI tools

Elevate your academic writing skills and convey your ideas the way you want

Paraphraser

Explore our range of reading and writing tools

Your file is being prepared and should be ready in a few minutes. If it's a large file, it might take a bit longer. You can close this window, and we'll email you the file when it's done.

You have reached a maximum limit of <strong>{limit}</strong> columns in the table. Remove at least <strong>1</strong> column to add or create another one.

E. Allander

Author Tools

Chat about Author

Papers

The variable incidence of hip fracture in southern Europe: the MEDOS Study.