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Show eludes interactive components for designing individual physical activity, relaxation, and pain management programs, and methods for solving problems that arise from the illness (Lorig et al., 1984). Pain reduction in those taking this course is estimated at 20% to 30% and appears to be additive to that seen with medical interventions such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Superio-Cabuslay et al., 1996). The ASHC program has also been found to save patients approximately $320 annually, due primarily to reduced physician visits (Kruger, et al., 1998). Other effective interventions for the treatment and reduction of arthritis-related symptoms focus in increased physical activity. In addition to potential impacts on obesity and chronic disease prevalence in general, it has been demonstrated that increased physical activity may improve arthritis-related outcomes. These interventions have shown that physical activity may decrease joint pain, increase self-efficacy, improve the general perception of health in individuals with arthritis (Rejeski, et al., 1998), and improve joint function including passive range of motion (Petrella and Bartha, 2000). The magnitude of arthritis prevalence and burden, the fact that there are effective yet underutilized interventions, and the fact that many with arthritis are undi-agnosed and perhaps untreated clearly support the need for a public health approach to addressing the burden of arthritis in the United States. Further, the identification of risk factors for arthritis allows for a targeted approach to meet the needs of those most at risk. Therefore, in conjunction with the release of the National Arthritis Action Plan in 1999, Congress allocated funds to begin these efforts at the national and state level. The Utah Department of Health was one of eight states funded by CDC to initiate a core arthritis program and subsequently established the Utah Arthritis Program. Prior to the creation of this program, there were no systematic efforts to collect or report Utah-specific arthritis data. It is critical that Utah-specific data be used to describe arthritis in Utah and direct arthritis-related public health efforts. Therefore, beginning in 2000, the Utah Department of Health began measuring arthritis prevalence and risk in Utah. This manuscript presents the results of these efforts and represents the first comprehensive public report of Utah-specific arthritis prevalence and risk data. Methods The 2000 Utah Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) was utilized to gather the data presented in this report. The BRFSS is an ongoing random telephone survey of non-institutionalized adults age 18 years and older that has been conducted in Utah continuously since 1984. However, in 2000, arthritis questions were included in the survey for the first time. The results presented in this manuscript have been weighted to adjust for the probability of selection and the age and sex distribution of Utah's estimated population in 2000. Weighting allows us to more closely reflect the actual distribution of Utah's population with respect to their age, gender, number of adults in the household, the number of telephone lines in the household, and the region of the state where they reside. Confidence intervals are provided to account for random error introduced by sampling. Data were analyzed and statistical relationships determined using the statistical software packages SAS and SUDAAN. The definition of arthritis currently recommended by the CDC for the BRFSS was used to measure arthritis presence/prevalence for this report. The definition is based on the reporting of either chronic joint symptoms (CJS) and/or a doctors diagnosis of arthritis. Chronic joint symptoms is a term used to describe persons who answered "yes" to the following two BRFSS questions: 1) During the past 12 months, have you had pain, aching, stiffness, or swelling in or around a joint? and 2) Were these symptoms present on most days for at least one month? Diagnosed arthritis (or a doctor's diagnoses of arthritis) is a term used to describe persons who answer "yes" to the BRFSS question: Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have arthritis? In all graphs and narrative that refer to BRFSS data, the term "arthritis" refers to persons with CJS and/or doctor-diagnosed arthritis, and are statistically significant at a 95% confidence interval. The term arthritis also refers to over 100 diseases and conditions that primarily affect the joints and surrounding tissues and other connective tissues of the body. These conditions include osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, gout, fibromyalgia, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and bursi-tis. The most common forms of arthritis are osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. In addition, it refers to chronic joint symptoms which include a combination of pain, aching, stiffness and swelling in or around a joint that is present on most days for at least one month, in the past 12 months. Arthritis risk was measured by comparing the prevalence of arthritis within population subgroups based on age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, body mass index (BMI), and physical activity. These subgroups and indicators were also identified using the BRFSS. To calculate BMI, weight in kilograms was divided by height in meters squared 14 Utah's Health: An Annual Review Volume VIII |
