Social and economic aspects of osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis. The incidence of the disease increases with age. Demographic forecasts predict aging of the population and an increase in the obesity rate in the society, the factors that contribute to the development of osteoarthritis. Thus, the nearest future will most likely bring an epidemic of the disease. While estimations of direct and indirect costs of OA have been developed in many countries, no such analyses have been made available for Poland. The total cost associated with disability pensions, hiring professional care and general loss of work productivity exceeds the direct cost of diagnostics and treatment. On a country scale, OA and its consequences require significant expenditure on the part of the health care system, social security system and the national budget. Optimization of this cost will require completion of epidemiological and pharmacoeconomic analyses and transformations in the health care and social security systems. The job market will also need to be adapted to the inevitable changes by means of introducing necessary legal adjustments to facilitate continued employment of persons >50 years of age with musculoskeletal disorders.