CDC: about one in three adults with prediabetes has arthritis

(HealthDay)—About one in three adults with prediabetes has arthritis, and half of those with both conditions are physically inactive and/or obese, according to research published in the Nov. 9 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Using data from the 2009 to 2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, Michelle Sandoval-Rosario, M.P.H., from the CDC in Atlanta, and colleagues examined the prevalence of arthritis among U.S. adults with prediabetes. The authors also looked at the correlation of these conditions with physical inactivity and obesity.

The researchers found that the unadjusted prevalence of arthritis was 32.0 percent among adults with prediabetes (26 million). The unadjusted prevalence rates of leisure-time physical inactivity and obesity were 56.5 and 50.1 percent, respectively, among adults with both arthritis and prediabetes.

"Health care and public health professionals can address arthritis-specific barriers to being physically active among adults with prediabetes by promoting evidence-based arthritis interventions," the authors write. "Furthermore, increased dissemination of the National Diabetes Prevention Program can potentially reduce the risk for developing type 2 diabetes among adults with arthritis and assist them with managing their pain from arthritis."