Painfully frustrating The reality of living with arthritis Imagine being in so much pain you can t brush your teeth, make a cup of tea, get out of bed or even open your front door. Arthritis can often be dismissed as a condition that only impacts older people, an inevitable part of ageing. The reality is people living with arthritis experience severe pain and stiffness in their joints and muscles. It can stop them from doing things that many of us take for granted, like walking, moving, lifting or standing. Arthritis can affect anyone at any time in their life. One in six people in the UK live with the pain of arthritis, including 15,000 children and young people. 1 Osteoarthritis is the most common form. 2 It leads to painful wear and degeneration of the joints. When the hands are affected by osteoarthritis, it is difficult to undertake everyday activities, such as fastening buttons, writing and opening food containers. Osteoarthritis in the hips or knees can restrict mobility, limit walking, climbing stairs, bathing and personal care, and driving a car. Nearly three quarters of people with osteoarthritis report some form of constant pain, with one in eight describing their pain as unbearable. 3 In inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system attacks and destroys the joints and sometimes the internal organs. A third of people with rheumatoid arthritis will stop working within two years of onset. 4 Pain is often invisible. People with arthritis often tell us that other people are just not aware of how severely it can impact on their life. In this report, we want to bring to life the impact of living with arthritis. We hope that it will inspire you to find out more about the condition and the work that we are doing to take the pain away.
What is it like to live with arthritis every day? We asked over 9,000 people how arthritis or joint pain impacts on their everyday life. Unsurprisingly, they told us that almost every part of their lives is affected. Due to the pain and stiffness in the joints, more than half of people surveyed said that they had difficulty walking. Over two fifths struggled with basic household jobs. People with severe arthritis can have difficulty lifting or carrying heavy objects for more than a few minutes. This means that everyday tasks, such as using the oven, the washing machine or washing up, become impossible. Two thirds struggled carrying out heavier household tasks, like gardening, hoovering or mopping the floor. Although people with arthritis and joint pain often want to continue working, a quarter of people we surveyed said that joint pain had affected their work. When tasks like dressing, getting in and out of the bath, washing and brushing hair, undoing and doing up bra straps or fastening buttons become nearly impossible, it can often cause frustration, lead to a lack of independence and an over-reliance on partners, friends and family. Unsurprisingly, this can cause relationships with friends and family to suffer. One fifth of people we surveyed, reported having difficulties with their family because of arthritis and joint pain. When living with sore and aching joints, being intimate with a partner can also become difficult. Thirteen per cent said that their sex life has been affected. It is unsurprising, therefore, that living with pain and frustration can impact on people s mental health. Research shows that over two thirds (68 per cent) of people with osteoarthritis report feeling depressed when the pain is at its worst, and people with arthritis are twice as likely to have thoughts of suicide than the general population. 5 * Findings from Arthritis Research UK s National Arthritis Survey 2012. Results are based on 9,250 responders of the survey submitted by February 2013.
The statistics tell an all too common story Christine, osteoarthritis, age 70 In her 30s Christine experienced pain in her knees, in her 40s she had pain in her hip and in her 50s she started to get painful nodules on her hands. After she was diagnosed with osteoarthritis, it became increasingly difficult for her to do the kind of things that many people take for granted. She struggled to hold a pen or a sewing needle, and she found that a paint brush would fall out of her hands. Eleanor, rheumatoid arthritis, age 38 Since being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis four years ago my life has changed beyond all recognition I am now on long term sick leave from the job I loved. I have found the loss of career and previous lifestyle very hard to come to terms with and have been treated for depression. Emily, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, age 17 Over the past two years, Emily has lived with the pain and fatigue caused by juvenile idiopathic arthritis and the drugs that she has taken to try and manage the condition have caused her debilitating side effects such as sickness and headaches. I ve found it really hard over the last two years, especially dealing with medication side effects and joint pain whilst taking my GCSEs. I was too ill to sit most of my exams, I managed to pass my art exam but the pain I felt in my hands nearly stopped me from holding the paint brush.
How would you feel if you couldn t do these everyday tasks? How would you feel if you couldn t play with your kids or take your exams or put your clothes on in the morning because you couldn t do up your bra strap or fasten your buttons? If suddenly opening a can, chopping carrots or boiling a kettle became impossible and painful tasks? In September 2013, we asked 2,000 members of the general public, how they would feel if they couldn t do these things that we generally take for granted. 6 When asked about how they would feel if they had similar struggles with everyday tasks, survey respondents said that they would be most frustrated if they couldn t walk (73 per cent), get dressed (72 per cent), do basic household tasks, like cooking, cleaning or washing dishes (70 per cent) or opening containers (67 per cent). walking getting dressed doing basic household tasks coping with family opening containers writing/typing brushing teeth getting in and out of a car doing heavier houshold tasks shopping making a cup of tea working brushing hair exercising having sex 73% 72% 70% 70% 67% 67% 66% 65% 64% 57% 56% 55% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% Everyday tasks become a painful struggle. Alan Silman, Medical Director, Arthritis Research UK, Pain is the key symptom for people suffering from arthritis. For those people living with pain and stiffness in their joints, it can be a constant battle to fight their pain, stay active and stay positive. People with arthritis often tell us that other people, even those closest to them, don t understand the impact that arthritis can have on their lives because pain is invisible. Research we are funding is helping us to understand more about the different forms of arthritis, the pain that they cause and new treatments to take this pain away. We are training health professionals to spot the signs and help people to get the right treatment and advice sooner, and we are providing people with the information to help them to manage their conditions. But there is much more that we need to do to win the fight against arthritis. This National Arthritis Week, we are encouraging people to make a joint effort pledge to help us to raise awareness of arthritis and continue our life changing work. Make your joint effort pledge to Give, Share and Learn more about arthritis. Go to www.nationalarthritisweek.org to make your pledge.
References 1. Royal College of General Practitioners Birmingham Research Unit (2006). Annual prevalence report. 2. Sacks JJ, Helmick CG, Luo YH, Ilowite NT, Bowyer S. Prevalence of and annual ambulatory health care visits for pediatric arthritis and other rheumatologic conditions in the United States in 2001-2004. Arthritis Rheum 2007; 57(8):1439-45. 3. Arthritis Care (2012), OA Nation. 4. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2009). NICE Clinical Guideline CG79: The management of rheumatoid arthritis in adults. 5. Maria G. Tektonidou, Abhijit Dasgupta, Michael M. Ward, (2011) Suicidal ideation among adults with arthritis: Prevalence and subgroups at highest risk. Data from the 2007 2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey Arthritis Care & Research 2011; 63(9):1322 1333. 6. Populus interviewed a random sample of 2,036 GB adults aged 18+ from its online panel between 4th 5th September 2013. Surveys were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. Populus is a founder member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. www.arthritisresearchuk.org Registered Charity England and Wales No. 207711, Scotland No. SC041156.