Objective: To evaluate the relative burden of arthritis and patterns of care in Aboriginal Manitobans, using multiple data sets to ensure a representative picture.
Methods: Arthritis burden and healthcare utilization was ascertained using 3 separate data sources. Physician claims for 3 common ICD-9 musculoskeletal diagnoses were abstracted from the Population Health Research Data Repository for First Nations (FN) Manitobans and compared to all other Manitobans. Self-reported arthritis rates were obtained from the Manitoba First Nations Regional Longitudinal Health Survey (MFN Survey), which surveyed FN persons living on-reserve. Data on ethnicity and diagnoses were abstracted from the Arthritis Centre research database, which contains records of all patients seen at the Arthritis Centre.
Results: Twice as many FN Manitobans had physician claims for rheumatoid arthritis, degenerative arthritis, and unspecified arthropathy compared to all other Manitobans. MFN Survey data identified a self-reported arthritis rate of 21.0% and a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) rate of 3.0%. Data for 687 Aboriginal patients and 4135 Caucasian patients were abstracted from the Arthritis Centre database. Aboriginal patients seen in the Arthritis Centre were 2 to 4 times more likely to have a diagnosis of inflammatory disease, and less than half as likely to have noninflammatory disease.
Conclusion: The data highlight the increased burden of arthritis in Aboriginal Manitobans, and draw attention to large gaps in our knowledge of how, why, and when Aboriginals access medical care.