MODELING THE POPULATION HEALTH IMPACT OF MUSCULOSKELETAL DISEASES - ARTHRITIS

Objective. A model adjusting for reductions in quality and quantity of life was developed to estimate the population health impact of muscul oskeletal diseases. Methods. Using arthritis as the prototype, prevale nce, mortality, and severity data from a variety of sources were combi ned to model a hypothetical cohort of 1,000 individuals through life. Quality adjusted life years and population health expectancy were calc ulated for those with arthritis and compared to the general population . Results. Without adjusting for quality of life, a cohort of 1,000 wo men and 1,000 men at age 15 years could expect 65,010 and 58,735 life years, respectively. Adjusting for quality of life, women with arthrit is could expect 61,719 life years, and men 57,123 life years. The unad justed population health expectancy was 65.0 for girls and 58.7 for bo ys (at age 15 years). Adjusting for quality of life, the population he alth expectancies were 61.7 and 57.1, years for women and men, respect ively. Conclusion. Using this model, the typical adult woman with arth ritis can expect to lose 3.3 healthy years of life, and a man, 1.6 hea lthy years of life. Overall, the model provided a general methodology for determining the population health impact of musculoskeletal diseas es. In addition, it is hoped that the methodology will stimulate furth er research into this area, raise awareness about the uses and limitat ions of currently available data, and provide a useful model for monit oring the impact of interventions.