Arthritis

Arthritis is an umbrella term that refers to a wide range of inflammatory conditions that affect the bones, muscles, and joints. This often results in pain, stiffness, swelling, and redness in affected joints[1].

Just under 3.7 million people (14.5%) had arthritis in 2022, and this has remained steady since 2004–05 (15.3%).

As with many other chronic conditions, arthritis prevalence increased with age:

• For people aged 45–54 years, the proportion is almost seven times higher than for those aged 0–44 years (16.2% compared to 2.5%)
• Prevalence almost doubled between 45–54 years and 55–64 years (16.2% compared to 30.5%)
• Older adults aged 75 years and over were more likely than any other age group to have arthritis, with almost one in two (48.9%) having arthritis in 2022.

Females were more likely than males to have arthritis (17.0% compared to 12.0%).

Osteoarthritis was the most common type of arthritis in 2022 (57.0%), followed by other arthritis and type unknown (37.3%) and rheumatoid arthritis (13.9%).

In 2022, people:

• Who lived in areas of most disadvantage were more likely to have arthritis than those in areas of least disadvantage (18.1% compared to 11.7%)
• Who lived in Inner Regional Australia were more likely to have arthritis than those in Major Cities (19.9% compared to 12.8%)
• Living with disability were more likely to have arthritis than those with no disability (31.8% compared to 6.6%)
• With a measured waist circumference that put them at increased risk were more likely to have arthritis than those at lowered risk (23.1% compared to 9.0%)
• Who had experienced severe/very severe bodily pain in the four weeks prior to interview were more likely to have arthritis than either moderate (52.6% compared to 35.3%) or very mild/mild bodily pain (52.6% compared to 15.2%).

People who lived in lone person households were more likely to have arthritis than any other household type (32.1%), compared to:

• Family households with no dependent children present (23.6%)
• Group households (7.5%)
• Family households with dependent children present (5.2%).

See the National Health Survey 2022 data downloads for the full suite of available data. Data relating to Arthritis can be found in tables:

• TABLE 1 Summary health characteristics, 2001 to 2022
• TABLE 2 Summary health characteristics, by states and territories
• TABLE 3 Long-term health conditions, by age and sex
• TABLE 4 Selected long-term health conditions, by population characteristics
• TABLE 5 Selected long-term health conditions, by health risk factors and health status
• TABLE 15 Number of chronic conditions, by population characteristics, by age
• TABLE 16 Comorbidity of selected chronic conditions, by age and sex.

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ‘Chronic musculoskeletal conditions: arthritis’, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/chronic-musculoskeletal-conditions/musculoskeletal-conditions/contents/arthritis; accessed 15/11/2023.

See National Health Survey 2022 media release for more information.