Hospitalizations attributable to arthritis, smoking, and hypertension: a comparison based on NHEFS and NHANES III.

OBJECTIVE To compare the impact of arthritis, smoking, and residual hypertension on the annual rate of hospital admissions in adults ages 45-74, because arthritis imposes a heavy health burden on individuals and higher medical costs on the nation. METHODS A simulation model was used to estimate annual hospital admissions attributable to each risk factor for all adults ages 45-74, and for overweight adults in that age bracket, from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). RESULTS Arthritis accounted for 6.2% of annual hospital admissions (8.1 admissions per 1,000 NHANES III adults). Current smoking accounted for a slightly larger share of admissions (7.0% or 9.1 admissions per 1,000 adults) and residual hypertension accounted for a smaller share (2.3% or 3.0 admissions per 1,000 adults). Because arthritis is more prevalent in overweight adults, it accounted for 7.4% of admissions (11.0 admissions per 1,000 annually in this group), compared with 5.8% for smoking (8.6 admissions per 1,000). CONCLUSION Although the impact of smoking and hypertension receives more attention from the media, the impact of arthritis on hospitalizations is substantial. This finding provides additional support for the goals of the National Arthritis Action Plan.