A report published today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 300,000 children in the U.S. suffer from some from of arthritis. Included in that estimate are some 50,000 to 100,000 that suffer from juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, a disease that can lead to permanent joint damage.

This report, published in the December issue of Arthritis Care & Research, says that 1 in 250 children under the age of 18 have been diagnosed with arthritis of another rheumatologic condition.

The study was lead by Dr. Jeffrey Sacks, an epidemiologist with the CDRC. His team studied information from doctor’s offices and emergency rooms across the U.S. One of the findings was that arthritis in children led to 744, 000 doctor visits and 83,000 emergency room visits annually.

This is the first comprehensive national estimate of kids with arthritis. It includes a state-by-state estimate of kids diagnosed with arthritis or other rheumatologic conditions. The report indicates the incidence ranges from a low of 500 kids in Wyoming to a high of 38,000 in California.

They also found that many of these children must travel long distances to receive specialized care. According to their analysis, 15,000 children with arthritis are residents of 11 states which have no pediatric rheumatologist. On average, children with arthritis must travel 57 miles to see a specialist. Those states are Alaska, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Dr. Patience White, Arthritis Foundation chief public health officer and a pediatric rheumatologist, says “Due to the lack of availability of pediatric rheumatologists trained in the diagnosis and care of children with arthritis, we know that many children with inflammatory forms of arthritis are not diagnosed early enough to prevent disability”.

In addition, Dr. Suzanne Bowyer, pediatric rheumatologist at the Indiana University School of Medicine stated that kids might bounce from one doctor to another before one that is familiar with the disease makes an accurate diagnosis. She also says that “Pediatricians and emergency room doctors might miss the signs of the more serious form of arthritis and could send kids home without the proper treatment”.
A provision of the proposed Arthritis Prevention, Control and Cure Act introduced in 2004 called for a better determination of the size of the childhood arthritis problem. Passage of the Arthritis Prevention, Control and Cure Act is necessary as it would encourage more physicians to enter the field and also would highlight the research needs for children with arthritis.