ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews what is known about the relationship of socioeconomic factors to arthritis and its treatment. Arthritis is the main cause of disability in 12.3 percent of people with limited functioning; spinal curvature or back impairments affect 7.8 percent, impairments of lower extremities affect 6.1 percent, and intervertebral disk disorders affect another 4.4 percent. The chapter utilizes symmetric polyarthritis as a surrogate for rheumatoid arthritis and oligoarthritis as a surrogate for osteoarthritis. It argues that improving the poor’s access to medical care is likely to result in commensurate improvements in arthritis-related medical outcomes and in a reduction in the costs to society that are associated with impaired functioning. An increasing body of epidemiologic and sociologic evidence has demonstrated that the prevalence of arthritis and other diseases is related to education and income. One hypothesis that has gained popularity is that low formal education puts people at risk for lifestyles that may predispose them to arthritis and other diseases.
