The Burden of OA in China, 1990-2019
Table 1 illustrates the incidence, prevalence, and DALY of OA, knee OA, hip OA, hand OA, and other OA by gender between 1990 and 2019. As shown in Table 1, from 1990 to 2019, the respective numbers of incidence and prevalence of OA increased exponentially from 4.6 million to 10.7 million, 51.8 million to 132.8 million, while the number of DALY increased from 1.8 million to 4.7 million.
In 2019, the age-standardized incidence (ASIR), age-standardized rates of prevalence (ASPR), and DALY for OA were 509.8, 6330.1, and 224.8, respectively. From 1990 to 2019, the ASR of OA have increased significantly. The EAPCs for ASIR, ASPR, and DALY were 0.36, 0.35, and 0.4, respectively. EAPC is a concise and commonly utilized measure of the trend of ASR over a particular period, as we discussed in the previous paragraphs. We can assume that the ASR trending downward throughout the EAPC is less than 0, and upward throughout the EAPC is more than 0. Except for hand OA, all OA categories had an EAPC larger than 0 in both genders, suggesting an upward trend in ASR for most OA from 1990 to 2019. In contrast, in hand OA, only men had EAPCs below 0 for DALY, ASPR, and ASIR, at -0.93, -0.94, and -0.96.
Female patients’ numbers have climbed by 159% over the past 30 years, while the rate of new cases has increased at a rate of 136.2%, as opposed to 153.1% and 127.7% for males. In comparison to males, women had EAPCs for ASIR, ASPR, and age-standardized DALY of 0.46 (0.38-0.54), 0.46 (0.37-0.54), and 0.56 (0.34-0.78), which were all higher than the corresponding values for males of 0.2 (0.1-0.29), 0.18 (0.08-0.27), and 0.19 (0.08-0.3).
During the past 30 years, female incidence have grown by 136.2% and prevalence by 159%, compared to 127.7% and 153.1% for men. Women had EAPCs for ASIR, ASPR, and DALY of 0.46, 0.46, and 0.56, compared to 0.2 , 0.18, and 0.19.
Proportion of disease burden by OA category in China, 1990-2019
In Fig 1, we described the percentage of the incidence, prevalence, and DALY for each type of OA in 1990 and 2019, the largest proportion of people have knee OA. As indicated in Fig 1(a), knee OA accounted for 80% of incidence in 1990, followed by hand OA at 10%, OA other at 8%, and OA hip at 2%. Fig 1(d) demonstrated that the makeup of OA incidence in 2019 is almost identical from 1990, with knee OA (80%) and hip OA (2%). As illustrated in Fig 1(d), in 1990, knee accounted for 75% of all OA prevalence, followed by hand OA at 12% and other OA at 10%. As shown in Fig 1(e), knee OA accounted for 73% of the prevalence in 2019, down 2% from 1990. OA hand and other grew by 1%, while OA hip remained stable. In contrast, as shown in Fig 1(c), the distribution of DALY in 1990 was 75% for knee OA, 12% for OA hand, 10% for OA other, and at least 3% for OA hip. As shown in Fig 1(f), the distribution of DALY in 2019 was not significantly different from that in 1990.
Trends in OA burdens, 1990 to 2019
The burden of total OA disease distribution by age in 1990 and 2019 is shown in Fig 2(a). OA prevalence is 0 before 30 years and rises with age, peaking at 50–54 years. Except for the 75-79 age range, OA incidence declines with age. Nonetheless, prevalence rises progressively with age, peaking at 90-94 years (95+ for women). The age-standardized DALY also increase with age, reaching a maximum in the 80-84 age group (85-89 for women). The graphs of prevalence, incidence, and DALY are similar in 1990 and 2019, but the graph on the left is slightly larger than the one on the right, suggesting that the number of women with prevalence, new cases, and new DALY is slightly larger than the one on the right. Women have more incidence, prevalence and DALY than men.
As shown in Fig 2(b), hand OA incidence, prevalence, and DALY changes between 1990 and 2019 are similar. Like a symmetrical triangle, DALY and prevalence grow with age for both men and women. Nonetheless, incidence trends differently. In 1990, female incidence initially rises with age and peaks at 50-54, then steadily drops until it reaches its lowest value in the 70-74 age group, then rises again. In 1990, males had a similar incidence tendency to women, however the first peak value was in the 55-59 age group and the second low value was in the 80-84 age group. In 2019, incidence is similar to 1990. The graph shows that men and females had similar prevalence, DALY, and incidence of hand OA.
As depicted by Fig 2(c), in 1990, female hip OA DALYs steadily grew from the 30-34 age group to a maximum at 95+ years of age, while men followed a similar pattern. By 2019, DALY for women peak in the 85-89 age range and then stay practically flat, whereas DALY for males peak in the 80-84 age group and remain almost constant. Hip and knee OA incidence rise and fall. Between 1990 and 2019, hip OA incidence for men and women grew from the 30-34 age group to a high in the 60-64 age group, then steadily reduced. Hip OA rates have steadily climbed from 30 to 95+. Unlike knee OA, the yellow graph is much bigger than the blue graph in hip OA, demonstrating that males had a higher incidence, new cases, and DALY than women.
Fig 2(d) showed the trends in knee OA and total OA are generally consistent. Age gradually increases and decreases prevalence, incidence, and DALY. The peak age of knee OA is inconsistent, unlike total OA. For women, the greatest DALY was in the 80-84 age range in 1990 and in the 75-79 age range in 2019. For males, it was continuously in the 65-69 age range. Knee OA was more common in men and women aged 50–54 from 1990 to 2019. Between 1990 and 2019, the greatest age range for men and women was 80-84. Fig 2(a) showed that the graph on the left is significantly larger than the graph on the right, which indicates that women had greater incidence, prevalence, and DALY for knee OA than males.
Other OA prevalence and DALY increase with age and show a left-right symmetrical pattern (Fig 2(e)), similar to hand OA. Incidence varies. In 1990, incidence rose from 30-34 years for both men and women, peaking at 50-59 years, then falling and stabilizing after 65-69 years. In the other OA, the incidence patterns in 2019 and 1990 are almost same and the graphs on both sides are essentially symmetrical, suggesting that men and females had similar prevalence, DALY, and incidence.
Predictions of the OA disease burden
Bayesian APC modeling using bamp package predicts China's OA prevalence from 2020 to 2035. Incidence rates were computed using a 5-year diagnostic period and 5-year age groups for all ages. World standard population ASIR per 100,000 person-years was determined. Log-linear age-smoothed exponential growth and limited linear trend prediction to a cyclical cohort model match existing patterns in predicting new cases and incidence rates by sex and age from 1990 to 2035.
Fig 3(a-c) revealed male and female 5-year ASIRs. The total OA 5-year total ASIR rose yearly from 1995-1999 to 612.8 in 2015-2019, with the greatest growth rate in 2000-2004. We expect the total OA 5-year total ASIR to steadily diminish after 2020-2024, reaching 609 in 2030-2035. The overall trend matches total OA since knee OA accounts for about 70% of the prevalence. It is noteworthy to observe that the 5-year total ASIR for hand OA peaked at 56.7 in 2005-2009 and has slowly declined since then, reaching 48.6 in 2030-2035 according to our forecasts. Hip OA and other OA are closely connected, and the model predicts that both will continue to rise, reaching 11.8 and 42.4 in 2030-2035.
In the 2015-2024 era, men had a significantly higher 5-year total ASIR drop than females for OA. Males changed 4.6% and females 4.3%. Females will have a larger 5-year total ASIR reduction in knee OA than men. According to the projected graph, male 5-year total ASIR declines by 0.73% from 517.8 in 2020-2024 to 514 in 2030-2035, while female ASIR decreases by 1.1% from 508 in 2015-2019 to 502.6 in 2030-2035.
Risk factor
Table 2 provided the 2019 DALY contribution of three primary OA risk variables by year, 5-year age interval, and gender. OA was most associated with high BMI. High BMI accounted with 11.58% of 2019 OA DALY, up from 5.3% in 1990. The high body mass index (BMI) proportion of the population climbs progressively after 30 years, peaking at 13.97 percent at 50-54 years, and declining year afterwards. By gender, the proportion of men with a high BMI in OA is 9.86%, while for women it is as high as 12.76%.
Regardless of the type of OA, the trend is consistent with total OA. Knee OA, which accounts for the highest proportion of arthritis, had a high BMI contribution to total DALY from 7.1% in 1990 to 15.7% in 2019. Looking at the age subgroups, knee OA likewise starts to rise gradually from the age of 30 years upwards in terms of high BMI, reaching a peak of 17.4% at the age of 50-54 years, and then declines gradually. A gender analysis shows it is higher for women at 16.27% than for men at 14.77%.
Hip OA provided a substantially lesser proportion of total DALY than knee OA, with its high BMI percentage rising from 2.26% in 1990 to 5.1% in 2019 and again reaching 5.9% at 50-54. Nevertheless, BMI to total DALY for hip OA was similar from 35-69 years old, ranging from 5-6%.