The Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Dashboard helps patients and other stakeholders understand the facts about the disease and the gaps in the delivery of RA care and treatment in the United States.
United States of America
General health information
Total population
Life expectancy men
Life expectancy women
324.4 million1
75.1 years2
80.5 years2
Annual health
expenditure
Obesity (% of population)
Smokers (% of population)
$4.1 trillion3
31.9%4
12.9%5
Arthritis in the United States
Total people living
with arthritis
Women
Men
Frequency (per 1,000 persons per year)
Estimated people living
with arthritis in 2040
Arthritis cost to society (health care costs and loss to economy)
58.5 million6
13.8 million7
10.6 million7
2377
78.4 million7
(adults aged 18+)
304 billion8
Models of Rheumatoid Arthritis Care
Standardized model
of care
Number of rheumatologists
per 75,000 population
Time to RA diagnosis after experiencing first symptoms
RA patient time wait time for first rheumatologist visit
yes
5,595
(as of 2015)14
40.5 months15
16.3 months15
RA in the United States
Total people living with RA
Women
Men
Frequency (per 1,000 persons per year)
Estimated people living with RA in 2040
RA cost to society
(health care costs and loss to economy)
1.5 million9
1.13 million10
375,00010
0.7111
2 million12
$46 billion13
Barriers to virtual care
Lack of digital skills
Access to internet
Cost of Electronics
Language
Policies/procedures that govern telehealth
Data Sources
1 United States Census Bureau. The Older Population in the United States: 2019.
https://www.census.gov/data/tables/2019/demo/age-and-sex/2019-older-population.html
2 National Vital Statistics System (NVSS). Provisional Life Expectancy Estimates for January through June, 2020.
https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/vsrr/VSRR10-508.pdf
3 Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services. National Health Expenditure Fact Sheet (2020).
https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/NHE-Fact-Sheet
4 United Health Foundation. CDC, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, 2020. Obesity.
https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/annual/measure/Obesity/state/ALL
5 IBIS World. Percentage of Smokers. Data sourced from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
https://www.ibisworld.com/us/bed/percentage-of-smokers/2342/
6 Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Arthritis Data and Statistics. National Statistics.
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/national-statistics.html#:~:text=About%201%20in%204%20US,people%20have%20doctor%2Ddiagnosed%20arthritis.
7 Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. Arthritis Data and Statistics. National Statistics.
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/national-statistics.html
8 Arthritis Foundation. Arthritis By The Numbers (2013 total medical costs and earning losses due to arthritis).
https://www.arthritis.org/getmedia/e1256607-fa87-4593-aa8a-8db4f291072a/2019-abtn-final-march-2019.pdf
9 Healthline. Rheumatoid Arthritis by the Numbers: Facts, Statistics, and You.
https://www.healthline.com/health/rheumatoid-arthritis/facts-statistics-infographic#Prevalence
10 American College of Rheumatology. Rheumatoid Arthritis.
https://www.rheumatology.org/I-Am-A/Patient-Caregiver/Diseases-Conditions/Rheumatoid-Arthritis
11 Direct data not available. Projection based on 1.5M out of 58.5M living with RA.and with 78.4M people living with arthritis in 2040, RA population should be approx. 2M.
12 The United States Bone and Joint Initiative (USBJI). The Burden of Musculoskeletal Diseases in the United States: Prevalence, Societal and Economic Costs (BMUS), 4th edition.
https://www.boneandjointburden.org/fourth-edition/iiib21/rheumatoid-arthritis
13 American College of Rheumatology. 2021 American College of Rheumatology Guideline for the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
https://www.rheumatology.org/Portals/0/Files/2021-ACR-Guideline-for-Treatment-Rheumatoid-Arthritis-Early-View.pdf
14 Medscape. Rheumatologist Shortage Threatens Arthritis Care.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/943438
15 National Center for Biotechnology Information. Lag time between onset of symptoms and diagnosis in Venezuelan patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20066425/#:~:text=Mean%20lag%20time%20between%20symptom,16.3%20and%2023.9%20months%2C%20respectively.