Carlos Montilla

Arthritis Foundation

Health Needs Assessment

 Arthritis does not refer to a single disease, rather it is an umbrella term and covers a

broad range. The term itself refers to joint pain, swelling, and or disease. To this day we have

discovered over 100 types of different forms of arthritis, each of them affecting the body

differently (Rath, 2022). In the United States, it is the leading cause of disability and is most

common in women (Rath, 2022). It isn’t a disease of aging as it can affect juveniles as well.

Common symptoms include joint swelling, pain, stiffness, reduced range of motion, and

variation in intensity. Exercising keeping joints active and moving are the best methods to

combat this.

Arthritis like any other illness comes with challenges that affect some populations more

than others. This creates health disparities among populations. To start arthritis is more common

in women (23.5%) versus men (18.1%) (CDC, 2021). It also affects those who classify as in

fair/poor health (40.5%) unequally to those in excellent/good health (18.5%). This is where the

problems start because health perception and healthcare go hand in hand. To access healthcare in

America you need health insurance due to the high cost of care leaving individual bankrupts.

This barrier is enough to deter many people from seeking care, especially the Latinx community.

About Fig:1, it is easy to note that a White adult is 3x more likely to have medical insurance than

a Latino adult (Fig: 1). The gap was almost 4x more likely but with the addition of the affordable

care act (ACA) the uninsured rate for Hispanics dropped from 40.2% to around 25%

(Commonwealth, 2020). A factor that leads to issues like this is the fact that Hispanics are

around 2x more likely to be classified low income than Whites (Commonwealth, 2020). The

A.C.A. made it more affordable, with key words "more affordable", not free. This challenge

caused Hispanic to be 2x more likely to avoid healthcare due to cost in comparison to Whites

(Commonwealth, 2020). Without health insurance people are not seeing doctors which leads to a
couple of things, people avoid going to the doctor and live with an illness, and no diagnosis is

ever made, two avoiding the doctors and dealing with the issue themselves leads to a status of

decreased health increasing chances of acquiring other diseases. Looking at Figure 2 we see that

White non-Hispanics have an arthritis prevalence of 23.2% and out of those 39.3% live with

limitations due to arthritis (CDC, 2022). Meanwhile, Hispanics have a prevenance of 16.4% and

out of those 43.3% live with limitations (CDC, 2022). Analyzing this data reveals that Hispanics

may have a lower disease prevalence, but higher reporting of activity limitations. This provokes

the thought that Hispanics are avoiding care due to financial barriers until it is affecting their

daily lives causing limitations. This leads to a lower prevalence but increased intensity and aligns

with our findings about the challenges faced by some populations. Another reason that can lead

to a lower incident rate is the fact they may be undocumented from the start. Very possible in the

Latinx community. It was estimated in 2017 that there were 10.5 million undocumented

immigrants in the US (Kamarck et Stenglein, 2019). Of those 10.5 million, around 4.9 million

were Mexican, and an additional 1.9 million were from Central America (Kamarck et Stenglein,

2019). This is excluding South America but, with still around 7 million undocumented people

from Hispanic origins in the US accounting for around 2/3 of all undocumented residents in 2017

(Kamarck et Stenglein, 2019). This is another reason medical care is often avoided due to the

fear of their status.

Overall health disparities exist for every illness, but arthritis is a chronic disease that has no cure.

The disparity gap is increased because of the medical attention and aid needed to keep it under

control. Populations like the Latinx must pay the consequences because they are more likely to

be uninsured, making them less likely to seek medical care decreasing the status of their health.

As well their immigration status could be another reason, along with a multitude of other factors.
This leads to decreased prevalence in the disease itself, but when present it proved to affect them

more adversely.

Something that cannot be ignored when talking factors affecting healthcare it is also

valuable to talk about education. Education in our society has translated into success, it isn’t

guaranteed but it there is a link between education and general success. General success is being

defined as being above the low-income line, ability to access healthcare, proper food/housing,

and other very general life necessities. The most basic degree that one can attain being a high

school diploma or GED. Which it opens many doors to the ability to seek work with lower-level

positions. But that is where the problem begins because no graduating high school can a be a

strong predicative factor. Hispanics in 2010 were more than 4 times more likely to not have

completed high school, and again when resurveyed the same gap stood (NCES, 2019). They both

reduced proportionally. Reference figure 6 highlights that Hispanic are responsible for the

highest rates across the board for highest noncompletion rate of high school. Both years the

Hispanic noncompletion rate is almost double of the next highest rate. These rates translate into

bachelor’s degree competition, and it is possible to see the same trend is still evident in figure 7.
 Appendix

Figure 1: Uninsured rates of adults 18-64 (%) in US from 2013 to 2018, classified by race.

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/jan/how-ACA-narrowed-racial-ethnic-

disparities-access
 Arthtritis Prevelance and Limitations (%)
50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%
White (NH) Black (NH) Hispanic/latino Asian (NH)

doctor-diagnosed arthritis activity limitations

Figure 2: Prevalence of doctor diagnosed arthritis and activity limitation in adults in the US,

classified by race.

https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/disparities.htm
Figure 3: Percentage of adults 18-64 that avoided medical care because of cost in the US 2013-

2018, classified by race

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/jan/how-ACA-narrowed-racial-ethnic-

disparities-access
Figure 4: Age Adjusted Arthritis prevalence among adults in 2015

https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/state-data-current.htm#county
Figure 5: Mapping distribution of Mexican population concentrations among the US.

https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2013/10/21/mapping-latino-populations-in-the-u-s/
Figure 6: % of adults over 25 who haven’t completed high school by race/ethnicity

From 2010-2016.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/raceindicators/indicator_rfa.asp
Figure 7: % of adults over 25 with at least a bachelor’s degree

https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2016/06/27/1-demographic-trends-and-economic-

well-being/
 Work Cited

1. CDC. “National Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, 12 Oct. 2021,
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/national-statistics.html. 

2. Commonwealth. “How the Affordable Care Act Has Narrowed Racial and Ethnic
Disparities in Access to Health Care.” How ACA Narrowed Racial Ethnic Disparities
Access to Health Care | Commonwealth Fund, 16 Jan. 2020,
https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/2020/jan/how-ACA-narrowed-racial-
ethnic-disparities-access. 

3. CDC. “Arthritis Statistics by State.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Sept. 2021,
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/state-data-current.htm#county. 

4. Kamarck, Elaine, and Christine Stenglein. “How Many Undocumented Immigrants Are
in the United States and Who Are They?” Brookings, Brookings, 27 Oct. 2020,
https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/how-many-undocumented-immigrants-
are-in-the-united-states-and-who-are-they/. 

5. CDC. “Arthritis Health Disparity Statistics.” Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 Apr. 2022,
https://www.cdc.gov/arthritis/data_statistics/disparities.htm. 

6. Carylsue. “Mapping Latino Populations in the U.S.” National Geographic Education

Blog, 19 Sept. 2018, https://blog.education.nationalgeographic.org/2013/10/21/mapping-
latino-populations-in-the-u-s/.