Economic Aspects of Early Osteoarthritis

As the burden of osteoarthritis (OA) continues to grow worldwide, early osteoarthritis is a growing phenomenon that will have significant social and economic impacts in the future. The United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI), in their 2016 Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases report, found that from 2013 to 2014, adults with osteoarthritis reported 180.9 million total lost work days, which represented 34% of total lost work days for any medical condition (Yelin et al., Semin Arthritis Rheum, 46(3):259–260, 2016). Several socioeconomic factors play a role in the development of early osteoarthritis, as well as trauma and structural deformity. While total joint arthroplasty remains a common surgical option, several other procedures offer similar utility with the potential to be more cost-effective on a populations level.