What is the prevalence of musculoskeletal problems in the elderly population in developed countries? A systematic critical literature review

A systematic literature search was conducted in Pubmed on articles in English, published between January 2000 and July 2011. Studies from developed countries with prevalence estimates on elderly people (60+) on the following MSK conditions were included: Non-specific extremity pain, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, and back pain. The included articles were extracted for information and assessed for risk of bias.A total of 85 articles were included with 173 different prevalence estimates. Musculoskeletal disorders are common in the elderly population, but due to heterogeneity of the studies, no general estimate on the prevalence of MSK can be determined. Women report more often MSK pain than men. Overall, prevalence estimates either remain fairly constant or increase slightly with increasing age, but with a tendency to decrease in the oldest (80+) people.Musculoskeletal disorders remain prevalent in the elderly population. Given the increasing proportion of elderly population in the world population and the burden of MSK diseases among the elderly people, efforts must be made to maintain their functional capacity for as long as possible through optimal primary and secondary health care.According to the United Nations (UN), the proportion of older people (i.e. aged 60 and over) will triple over the next 40 years and will account for more than 20% of the world’s population by year 2050 [1]. In addition, it is estimated that one in five of the elderly population will be more than 80 years old in 2050. The exponential increase of elderly people is mainly due to a rise in life expectancy, especially in the developing countries. Along with the rise in the life expectancy there is also a rise in the incidence of non-communicable chronic conditions which again leads to increasing morbidity and disability [2]. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), one of the major disabling conditions among the elderly population is musculoskeletal (MSK) disorde