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 Ireland.
Ireland
General health information
Total population
Life expectancy men
Life expectancy women
4.76 million1
79.6 years2
83.4 years2
Annual health
expenditure
Obesity (% of population)
Smokers (% of population)
€ 23.8 billion3
23%5
23%6
Arthritis in the Ireland
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)
1 million6
Unreported
Unreported
Unreported
Unreported
Unreported
Models of Rheumatoid Arthritis Care
Standardized model
of care
Number of rheumatologists
per 75,000 population
Time to RA diagnosis after experiencing first symptoms (% of patients within 1 month)
RA patient time wait time for first rheumatologist visit
(% of patients longer than 3 months)
Unreported
0.3759
Unreported
Unreported
RA in the Ireland
Total people living with RA
Women
Men
Frequency (per 1,000 persons per year)
Estimated people living with RA in 2040
Arthritis cost to society
(health care costs and loss to economy)
23,8397
Unreported
Unreported
0.3868
Unreported
Over 20,000 euros per patient per year8
Barriers to virtual care
Lack of digital skills
Access to internet
Cost of Electronics
Language
Data Sources
1 Central Statistics Office. Census 2016 Summary Results - Part 1.
https://www.cso.ie/en/media/csoie/releasespublications/documents/population/2017/Chapter_1_Population_change_and_historical_perspective.pdf
2 Central statistics Office. Irish Life Tables.
https://www.cso.ie/en/statistics/birthsdeathsandmarriages/irishlifetables/
3 Central statistics Office. System of Health Accounts 2019.
https://www.cso.ie/en/releasesandpublications/ep/p-sha/systemofhealthaccounts2019/healthexpenditureinireland2019/#:~:text=Ireland's%20current%20expenditure%20on%20healthcare,since%202015%20(Table%202.1)
4 HSE. Obesity.
https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/cspd/ncps/obesity/#:~:text=Ireland%20has%20one%20of%20the,living%20with%20overweight%20and%20obesity.
5 Department of Health. Ipsos MRBI, 2015.
https://www.hse.ie/eng/about/who/cspd/ncps/obesity/a-healthy-weight-for-ireland-obesity-policy-and-action-plan.pdf
6Arthritis Ireland.
https://www.arthritisireland.ie/newly-diagnosed
7 eumusc.net. Musculoskeletal Health in Europe Report v5.0. Table 6 Standardised prevalence rate RA per 100 population.
http://www.eumusc.net/myUploadData/files/Musculoskeletal%20Health%20in%20Europe%20Report%20v5.pdf
8 Statista. Incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in selected European countries in 2019.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1256413/rheumatoid-arthritis-incidence-in-europe-by-country/#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20incidence%20of,the%20highest%20incidence%20in%20Europe.
9 eumusc.net. Musculoskeletal Health in Europe Report v5.0. Figure 77 Estimated annual cost of RA per patient by type of care.
http://www.eumusc.net/myUploadData/files/Musculoskeletal%20Health%20in%20Europe%20Report%20v5.pdf