AORC hospitalizations. Data from the Healthcare Cost and Utility Project (HCUP) 2011 Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) estimates 6.7 million hospitalizations that are associated with a diagnosis of AORC, or 17.3% of all hospitalizations that year. Because hospitalization for osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is rare, only about 1% of hospitalizations associated with an AORC diagnoses had this as the presenting, or first, diagnosis. However, arthritis is often a contributing cause to hospitalization, particularly when associated with joint replacement surgery; therefore, most of the 6.7 million hospitalizations were associated with OA, gout, RA, and other less specific disorders. (Reference Table 4.2 PDF CSV)


Most AORC-associated hospitalizations in 2011 occurred among women (60%), with gout the only arthritis condition where more men were hospitalized. Although people age 65 years and older comprise only 17% of the adult population, they accounted for 41% of AORC-associated hospitalizations. (Reference Table 4.3 PDF CSV).

The rate of hospitalization rate per 100 people for AORC-associated hospitalizations was similar men and women. Among the 10 AORC subgroups, hospitalizations rates increased by age most significantly for osteoarthritis and other specified rheumatic conditions. AORC did not differ from all hospitalizations in hospitalization rate by sex, but did differ in the rate by age. (Reference Table 4.3 PDF CSV)