# How Long Do People With Arthritis Stay Healthy and in Work? Analysis of Data From the Health and Retirement Study

## TL;DR

People with arthritis in the U.S. have about half the healthy working life expectancy compared to those without arthritis, with significant differences based on factors like obesity and education.

## Contribution

This study introduces a novel method using longitudinal data and interpolated Markov chains to estimate healthy working life expectancy for people with arthritis.

## Key findings

- People with arthritis have a healthy working life expectancy of 6.18 years at age 50, compared to 11.71 years for those without arthritis.
- Those with both arthritis and obesity have the lowest healthy working life expectancy.
- Sociodemographic factors like education and region influence the duration of healthy working life for people with arthritis.

## Abstract

To estimate healthy working life expectancy (HWLE; the average number of years that adults from age 50 years can expect to be healthy and in paid work) in the United States for people with arthritis overall and by sex, education, ethnicity, region, and obesity status.

Longitudinal survey data (14 waves of the Health and Retirement Study) for adults aged ≥50 years were used. “Healthy” and “working” were defined as no limiting long‐standing illness and employment/self‐employment, respectively. Age‐adjusted, continuous‐time, five‐state models were fitted using Interpolated Markov Chains ( IMaCh) software, a maximum likelihood modeling program using interpolation of Markov Chains, to estimate hazards of transitions out of the healthy and working state based on arthritis status (and the covariates sex, ethnicity, region, education, and obesity status).

Weighted values are for 37,062 participants across 14 waves. HWLE at age 50 years for people with arthritis was almost half that for those without arthritis (6.18 years [95% confidence interval (CI) 6.06–6.30 years] vs 11.71 years [95% CI 11.56–11.86 years]). Those with both obesity and arthritis had the smallest HWLE values at age 50 years.

The extent of reduction in a healthy and working state highlights the societal impact of arthritis. Variation in the amount of time in a healthy and working state by sociodemographic factors suggests that there are approaches that can increase HWLE. Further exploration of workplace factors and employment opportunities may lead to strategies to reduce the impact of arthritis on healthy working lives.