Prevalence of Osteoarthritis by Age Group

Question 1
Using the estimated percentages of prevalence per age group, we come up with the number of
prevalence. The values obtained are recorded in table 1.
Age
Prevalence estimates from 2001 to 2009
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
.35 to 39 years 430366
42248
2
40401
9
39661
8
39517
4
39788
3
39831
4
39553
2
38964
8
.40 to 44 years 472878
47913
3
48069
1
48143
8
47684
5
46835
4
45847
9
44887
5
44058
0
.45 to 49 years 626805
64166
8
67340
3
68402
3
69493
2
70417
4
70679
3
70745
0
70873
0
.50 to 54 years 551163
57930
6
59201
6
60650
5
62244
1
63769
7
65534
6
67082
4
68215
0
.55 to 59 years 447676
46097
6
52188
0
54803
7
57760
6
60709
6
60900
7
62088
1
63626
0
.60 to 64 years 358483
36749
9
40241
5
41903
8
43356
3
44659
7
48423
1
50630
2
53212
5
.65 to 69 years 476195
47811
2
49154
0
50367
1
51393
1
52766
0
54851
2
57971
7
60461
9
.70 to 74 years 443001
44109
7
43350
6
42970
5
43015
4
43249
1
43642
5
44556
7
45703
6
.75 to 79 years 357054
35786
0
35989
6
35814
7
35825
3
35745
8
35521
7
35259
6
35016
3
.80 to 84 years 239258
24663
4
25913
3
26536
8
26933
7
27111
0
27298
0
27505
7
27493
0
85 and over 204599
20700
0
21437
6
21820
2
22527
8
23356
5
24189
8
24940
0
25763
0
Table 1: Data of osteoarthritis prevalence
This data produces the graph below;

.35 to
39 .40 to
44 .45 to
49 .50 to
54 .55 to
59 .60 to
64 .65 to
69 .70 to
74 .75 to
79 .80 to
84 85
and
over
0
100000
200000
300000
400000
500000
600000
700000
800000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Years
Estimated number of prevalences
Figure 1: Age-specific prevalence of osteoarthritis in 2001-2009
From the graph, we see a sharp increase in prevalence for people with 35 to 49 years. The
number steadily decreases between 50 to 60 years. There was a sharp decrease in the estimated
number of prevalence for people aged 65 years and above. With comparison with the number of
people in different age groups, people aged 60 years recorded the highest percentage.
Question 2
RCT should use patients with the higher risk of the complication. This means that many of the
patients who will undergo the process will be those with 60 years and above. In order to remove
biasness and allow direct comparison, a real representation of how the medication will react with
the wider population in terms of age differences after distribution will be adopted (Turner, 2012).
Question 3
From the data provided for trials conducted between 1985 and 2008, the following graph was
obtained.

1985
1993
1995
1996
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2005
2006
2007
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Trial_Study_size
Participants_Mean_age
Year
Trial study size
Participants mean age
Question 4
1985-1992: RCTs done between 1985 to 1992 was focused on investigating efficacy and safety
of the medication.
1993-2000: RCTs done between 1993 and 2000 was aimed at efficacy and safety of the
medication.
2001 – 2008: RCTs done between 2001 to 2005 was focused on the efficacy and safety of the
medication.
2006 trials were done to determine efficacy of the medication.
Trials conducted in 2007 and 2008 were investigating the safety of the medication.
Combined line and bar graph were the best for this type of data because of the different type of
information recorded and their wide range (Mastenbroek, 2011).
Question 5