From: BBC News, April, 2004

A recent survey done in the UK found that around 70% of arthritis patients cannot manage routine household tasks and about 4 out of 5 (81%) are living in constant pain. The survey also found that almost half of arthritis patients delay seeing their GP until the pain becomes unbearable.

Funded by Pfizer for the charity, Arthritis Care, the survey studied 1,762 patients in Britain. The patients in the study had experienced pain for an average of 12 years but some had symptoms for more than 25 years.

States Neil Betteridge of Arthritis Care, “This report is evidence that there is a huge problem in the UK, and one which we must address.” Adds Arthritis Care’s Kieran Kettleton, “It is a ‘put up and shut up’ attitude which prevails among the predominantly elderly group of osteoarthritis patients.”

The charity hopes that the effect of the study will be to push osteoarthritis higher up the primary care agenda and to get it to be recognized as a disabling condition that isn’t ignored.