Focus Area „Musculoskeletal System“
population, through an aging
Some facts1:
• Joint disorders are responsible for
over half of all chronic illnesses in
the over-65 population age group.
• Osteoarthritis is the fourth most
frequent cause of health problems in
women and the eighth most frequent
cause in men.
• 40% of all men over the age of 70 are
afflicted by osteoarthritis of the knee.
• 80% of patients with osteoarthritis
suffer from limited mobility and 25%
of these patients can no longer
perform the most important basic
activities of daily life.
• 50% of patients suffering from
rheumatic arthritis must quit their
employment within 10 years of the
disease onset.
• Low back pain has reached epidemic
proportions. Over 80% of the
population will experience back pain
at least once within their lifetime.
• Back pain is the most common cause
of occupational invalidity for men
and the second most common cause
for women.
• The number of osteoporotic fractures
has doubled in the last decade. 50%
of women over the age of 65 are
affected by osteoporosis, with a
consequently high risk of vertebral
fractures.
• Signs of vertebral fractures are
observed in 25% of all women over
the age of 70. It is estimated that an
increase in the osteoporotic
1
Information from the “Bone and Joint
Decade 2000 – 2010”;
www.boneandjointdecade.org
demographic, will result in 6 million
hip fractures by 2050.
• A Swedish analysis of medical care
costs has shown that disorders of the
musculoskeletal system result in over
25% of the total health care
expenditures and represent the
costliest category of medical care.
• Each year, 23 – 34 million people are
injured in traffic accidents. Injuries
are predominantly to the musculo-
skeletal system. Traffic accidents are
the most frequent cause of fatalities
and hospital care for people under the
age of 45.
Musculoskeletal disorders are
consequently the most frequent cause for
long-lasting or chronic pain and,
therefore, for restrictions on physical
performance. Musculoskeletal disorders
affect hundreds of millions of people
worldwide and a strong increase in this
number can be expected in the next
decades due to the predicted growth of
the elderly portion of our population. The
increasing problem of musculoskeletal
health was the catalyst for the declaration
of the decade 2000 – 2010 as the
“Decade of Bone and Joint”, an initiative
supported by the World Health
Organization (WHO) of the United
Nations, the World Bank and the
governments of many nations, including
Switzerland.
Disorders of the musculoskeletal
system are accompanied by pain, often an
inflammatory response, and can lead to
constraints on mobility, to longer-term
disability and, in the extreme case, to an
increased morbidity. In the context of the
Bone and Joint Decade, a focus has been
 Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering
placed on the most common
musculoskeletal diseases, i.e. joint
disorders such as osteoarthritis,
rheumatoid arthritis, osteoporosis, low
back pain and other spinal disorders. An
emphasis has also been placed on
improving the care of serious traumatic
skeletal injuries and disabilities that
accompany traffic and sports accidents.
In Switzerland, 12’000 people suffer a
whiplash injury each year, accounting for
disability payments from the Suva in 25%
of cases. Although over 80% of the
accident victims are mobile again within
days, return-to-work statistics are
controversial and the annual costs for
such neck injuries are approximately 60
million CHF, with half this figure
covering expenditures for compensation
payments resulting from long-term
disability2. Injuries occurring during
sporting activities account for 15 – 50%
of all knee injuries, and are responsible
for an even larger portion of the related
health care costs3. Such musculoskeletal
injuries are often associated with long
and costly rehabilitation requirements,
and a portion of the patients suffers from
enduring impairments, with consequences
for both their individual professional and
private lives and for the society in
general.
Joint disorders, osteoporosis, spinal
injuries and degeneration and
musculoskeletal trauma place a financial
burden of approximately 5 billion CHF
per year on the Swiss healthcare industry.
The Institute for Social and Preventative
Medicine of the University of Zurich
estimates the total annual costs in
Switzerland for the treatment of
osteoporosis alone at approximately 1.3
billion CHF. Altogether, musculoskeletal
2
Sonntagszeitung, 18. August 2002
3
de Loës et al, Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2000;
10:90-97
disorders account for approximately 40%
of lost working years in the Swiss
population and are responsible for an
even greater portion of all invalidity
claimsFehler! Textmarke nicht definiert..
Musculoskeletal diseases such as
arthrosis, back pain, osteoporosis and
arthritis belong to the most frequently
diagnosed rheumatic diseases. These
account already for 10% of the Swiss
healthcare costs4. Furthermore,
dysfunction of the musculoskeletal
system is the principal factor in 28% of
all Swiss disability pension cases. As the
frequency of these disorders increases
with age, it is clear that a further increase
in costs for the Swiss social insurance
system can be expected. According to the
Swiss Federal Office for Public Health,
the number of elderly people (65+) will
increase 50% by 2020 and this age group
will by then account for over 20% of the
total Swiss population. In addition, the
incidence of musculoskeletal disorders in
the younger population, e.g. back pain, is
also steadily increasing.
For the further development of
adequate prevention strategies, diagnostic
methods, therapies, pharmaceutical
products and medical devices, a deeper
knowledge is required of the
biomechanics, the physiology and the
pathology of the musculoskeletal system.
In addition, knowledge in the areas of
analytical and experimental diagnostic
methods and their clinical application is
required. Basic research focused on the
musculoskeletal system, skeletal diseases
and their causes is of crucial importance
for the future, from both an individual
and a societal perspective.
4
Study “Gesundheitsschutz und
Gesundheitsförderung in den Jahren 2000 –
2003”, on behalf of the Federal Office of
Public Health, 1999