Here are statistics on patients visiting physicians for knee, shoulder, hip and back pain in 2006 from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey and Bureau of Labor statistics, the most recent data posted on the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website.
1. Knee pain. Approximately 14 million people visiting the physician's office with their primary concern being knee pain, and 1.4 million patients visited the emergency room with knee pain. Of those patients, there were 2.5 million more women than men, and there 96,000 were work-related injuries. Patients with knee pain were most likely to be over the age of 61 (6.1 million patients), which is 1.1 million more than the patients age 43-61 (4.9 million patients).
2. Shoulder pain. There were approximately 8.8 million patients reporting to physician's offices with shoulder pain, 4.8 million of which were men. There were about 1.1 million emergency room visits for patients with shoulder pain. Patients ages 43-61 were most likely to have shoulder pain, making up nearly 4 million of the visits. The second highest age group was patients over the age of 61 (3.1 million patients). Only about 76,000 of those injuries were work-related.
3. Hip pain. There were a total of 2.9 million physician visits for hip pain, with women (1.6 million) visiting slightly more often than men (1.3 million). There were 733,000 visits to the emergency room for hip pain, and 8,000 due to work-related injuries. The overwhelming majority of the hip pain-related visits were from patients older than 61, who represented 1.5 million visits. The second highest age group was 43-61, who represented 665,000 visits.
4. Back pain. More than 13 million physician visits occurred due to back pain, which includes about 1 million more women (7.1 million) than men (6.2 million). There were an additional 8.8 million people who specified lower back pain at physician visits. Patients ages 43-61 were most likely to report back pain at visits, representing 5.4 million patients. Back pain visits among 19-42-year-olds represented 3.6 million visits and patients older than 61 represented 3.7 million visits. Work related injuries represented 251,000 back pain patients and 123,000 lower back pain patients.
Learn more about orthopedic patient visits.
Read other stats on orthopedic and spine surgeons:
- 29 Statistics About Orthopedics
- 12 Statistics on Orthopedic and Spine Surgeon Compensation by Employment Status
- 10 Statistics and Facts About Growth in Joint Replacement
1. Knee pain. Approximately 14 million people visiting the physician's office with their primary concern being knee pain, and 1.4 million patients visited the emergency room with knee pain. Of those patients, there were 2.5 million more women than men, and there 96,000 were work-related injuries. Patients with knee pain were most likely to be over the age of 61 (6.1 million patients), which is 1.1 million more than the patients age 43-61 (4.9 million patients).
2. Shoulder pain. There were approximately 8.8 million patients reporting to physician's offices with shoulder pain, 4.8 million of which were men. There were about 1.1 million emergency room visits for patients with shoulder pain. Patients ages 43-61 were most likely to have shoulder pain, making up nearly 4 million of the visits. The second highest age group was patients over the age of 61 (3.1 million patients). Only about 76,000 of those injuries were work-related.
3. Hip pain. There were a total of 2.9 million physician visits for hip pain, with women (1.6 million) visiting slightly more often than men (1.3 million). There were 733,000 visits to the emergency room for hip pain, and 8,000 due to work-related injuries. The overwhelming majority of the hip pain-related visits were from patients older than 61, who represented 1.5 million visits. The second highest age group was 43-61, who represented 665,000 visits.
4. Back pain. More than 13 million physician visits occurred due to back pain, which includes about 1 million more women (7.1 million) than men (6.2 million). There were an additional 8.8 million people who specified lower back pain at physician visits. Patients ages 43-61 were most likely to report back pain at visits, representing 5.4 million patients. Back pain visits among 19-42-year-olds represented 3.6 million visits and patients older than 61 represented 3.7 million visits. Work related injuries represented 251,000 back pain patients and 123,000 lower back pain patients.
Learn more about orthopedic patient visits.
Read other stats on orthopedic and spine surgeons:
- 29 Statistics About Orthopedics
- 12 Statistics on Orthopedic and Spine Surgeon Compensation by Employment Status
- 10 Statistics and Facts About Growth in Joint Replacement