In the United States:

• Musculoskeletal conditions cost our society more than $250 billion per year.
• One out of every seven Americans has a musculoskeletal impairment in function.
• More than 50 percent of all injuries are to the musculoskeletal system.
• 46 million people have arthritis and that number will increase to more than 60 million by 2020.
• 50 percent of women and 13 percent of men older than age 50 will have an osteoporosis fracture in their lifetime.
• Sprains, dislocations, and fractures account for nearly 65 percent of all musculoskeletal injuries, which can frequently lead to post-traumatic osteoarthritis.
• Costs of osteoporotic fractures will double in the next 50 years unless prevention and treatment strategies are initiated; two-thirds of people who have a hip fracture do not return to their pre-fracture level of functioning, and one in six Caucasian women will have a hip fracture in their lifetime.
• Each year, musculoskeletal conditions and injuries account for more than 157 million visits to doctors’ offices, more than 25 million hospital outpatient visits, and more than 29 million emergency department visits.
• More than seven million musculoskeletal procedures are performed by physicians annually.
• Musculoskeletal disabilities will increase dramatically over the next 20 years as they are most prevalent in older segments of the population, and we all are aging. By 2030, one in five Americans will be age 65 or over.