Survey Methodology and Results

Harris Interactive® conducted the online survey on behalf of DePuy Orthopaedics, Inc. between March 2 and 8, 2004 among 531 U.S. adults aged 50 to 65 who have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis by a medical professional and have never had joint replacement surgery.

During data collection, quotas were used within the survey to ensure that the distribution of males and females aged 50-65 who are arthritic with joint pain in the completed interviews matched the male-female distribution for that population as reported by the CDC in August 2003. No additional weighting was done therefore the data are only representative of the total U.S. population of osteoarthritis suffers aged 50-65 with respect to the male-female split.

In theory, with probability samples of this size, one could say with 95 percent certainty that the overall results have a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. Sampling error for the sub-samples of men (217) and women (314) is higher and varies. This online sample is not a probability sample.

Specific Survey Results

• Women respondents were less likely to describe their health as “excellent/very good” (20 percent women/30 percent men).
• Women respondents were more likely to be diagnosed with other health conditions in addition to their OA including depression (35 percent women/26 percent men), allergies (59 percent/40 percent), and asthma (27 percent/13 percent).
• Women respondents were more likely to “primarily” see a Rheumatologist (12 percent women/6 percent men) for treatment of the OA than an Orthopaedic Specialist (10 percent/20 percent).
• Only 24 percent of women respondents reported that their doctors had discussed knee replacement as an OA treatment option.
• Women and men perceived the severity of their OA and the frequency of pain at nearly the same level. However, women respondents were more likely to describe their “most painful day” (63 percent) and their pain on a “typical day” as “extremely/very painful” (21 percent) compared to men at 54 percent and 13 percent respectively.
• Women respondents also reported experiencing the following on a daily basis:
  • Lower back pain and stiffness (56 percent)
  • Crepitance – the sound or feel of bone rubbing on bone (50 percent)
  • Pain in the hips, groin, inner thigh or buttocks (45 percent)
• Women were significantly more likely to have tried more OA treatments including drugs (both over-the-counter (61 percent women/50 percent men) and prescription (78 percent/70 percent)), herbal supplements (28 percent/19 percent), magnets (18 percent/10 percent), relaxation therapy (21 percent/14 percent) and water therapy (19 percent/10 percent).
• According to the study, women (38 percent) are more likely than men (30 percent) to say their OA has had a considerable impact on their quality of life.
• Women, when asked which activity they would resume if their OA pain were eliminated, responded saying normal activities such as walking, standing, bending, and/or climbing stairs (33 percent).

Last Updated: 11/08/2006