Moderate to Severe Osteoarthritis Pain and Its Impact on Patients in the United States: A National Survey

Patricia Schepman,1 Sheena Thakkar,1 Rebecca Robinson,2 Deepa Malhotra,1 Birol Emir,1 Craig Beck1 1Pfizer Inc., New York, NY, USA; 2Eli Lilly and Company, New York, NY, USACorrespondence: Sheena ThakkarPfizer Inc., 235 East 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10017, USATel +1 347 961-9174Email sheena.thakkar@pfizer.comPurpose: Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of chronic pain and a leading cause of disability in the US. The objective of this study was to examine the clinical and economic burden of OA by pain severity.Patients and Methods: We used nationally representative survey data. Adults ≥ 18 years with self-reported physician-diagnosed OA and experiencing OA pain were included in the study. OA pain severity was measured using the Short Form McGill Pain Questionnaire Visual Analog Scale (SF-MPQ-VAS). Data were collected for demographics, clinical characteristics, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), productivity, OA treatment, adherence to pain medication, and healthcare resource utilization. Univariate analysis was performed to examine differences between respondents with moderate-to-severe OA pain vs those with mild OA pain.Results: Higher proportions of respondents with moderate-to-severe OA pain (n=3798) compared with mild OA pain (n=2038) were female (69.4% vs 57.3%), < 65 years of age (54.8% vs 43.4%), and not employed (70.6% vs 64.5%). Respondents with moderate-to-severe OA pain experienced OA pain daily (80.8% vs 48.8%), were obese (53.0% vs 40.5%), had more comorbidities (sleep disturbance, insomnia, depression, and anxiety), and reported significantly poorer health status and HRQoL, and greater productivity and activity impairment (all P< 0.05). Moderate-to-severe OA pain respondents were prescribed significantly more pain medications than mild OA pain respondents (41.0% vs 17.0%) and had higher adherence (75.9% vs 64.1%) yet were less satisfied with their pain medications (all P< 0.001). Outpatient and emergency room visits, an