Every one in three adults with prediabetes has arthritis : CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report reveals that approximately one in three adults with prediabetes has arthritis and about 50 per cent of those with both conditions are physically inactive and/or obese.

The researchers analyzed data from 2009 to 2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, which included 10,179 adults aged ≥20 years with a fasting plasma glucose measurement and complete arthritis.

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Prediabetes was defined as a glycated haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level of 5.7%–6.4% or a fasting plasma glucose level of 100–125 mg/dL. Diabetes was defined as an HbA1c level of ≥6.5%, fasting plasma glucose level of ≥126 mg/dL. Measured obesity was defined as a body mass index of ≥30 kg/m2.

The key analyses included are:

• The age-standardized prevalence of arthritis for adults with prediabetes for each year was relatively consistent across all 8 years.


• Among adults with prediabetes, arthritis prevalence was highest among those aged ≥65 years (55.7%); arthritis prevalence was significantly lower among adults aged 20–44 years (10.1%) and 45–64 years (34.8%).


• Age-standardized arthritis prevalence was significantly higher among women (31.0%) and non-Hispanic whites (29.0%) than among men and other racial/ethnic groups.


• The unadjusted prevalences of leisure-time physical inactivity and obesity among adults with both prediabetes and arthritis were 56.5% and 50.1%, respectively.


• The age-standardized prevalence of leisure-time physical inactivity among adults with both prediabetes and arthritis (54.0%) was significantly higher than that among adults with neither of them (39.5%), but not for adults with one condition.


• In addition, the age-standardized prevalence of obesity among adults with arthritis and prediabetes (57.8%) was significantly higher than that among adults with prediabetes only (41.6%), arthritis only (36.1%), and neither prediabetes nor arthritis (25.2%).

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According to the authors, increasing physical activity and promoting weight loss can reduce the risk for type 2 diabetes and improve pain management among adults with prediabetes and arthritis. Health care and public health professionals can address arthritis-specific barriers to physical activity among adults with prediabetes by promoting evidence-based arthritis interventions.

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