Activities
We know that RA can prevent people from doing activities they used to. In this section, we explore the burden of RA on different activities and how this makes people with RA feel.
Getting ready to go out, household chores or simply going out for a short walk; these are all things that many of us take for granted.
However, for people with RA, even these activities can be a daily struggle. 60% of people with RA find their condition significantly impedes the ability to exercise. Furthermore, a staggering 23% have problems with daily grooming routines.
60%
…of people living with RA find their condition significantly impedes their ability to exercise.
A map showing the percentage of people living with RA who find daily activities difficult to complete.
Select a country to see the proportion of people living with RA who find daily activities difficult to complete.
Daily activities
The physical aspects of RA - pain, fatigue and aching or stiff joints continue to be the largest barriers to completing activities.
Select an activity from the list below to see the proportion of people living with RA who find it difficult to complete:
Base: Total Sample 5400, Canada 809, France 1032, Germany 352, Italy 684, Netherlands 641, Spain 436, Sweden 196, United Kingdom 1250
In addition to physical barriers, RA places a major emotional burden on people, leaving them feeling anxious and frustrated.
65% of patients who undertook RA Matters reported feelings of frustration at being unable to complete daily activities, with over a quarter feeling anxious (33%), like a failure (28%), isolated (27%) and like life is unfair (25%).
65%
reported feeling frustrated at being unable to complete daily activities.
Feelings associated with RA at different ages
Age
There are notable differences between how people feel about their RA depending on their age. Younger people are more often negatively impacted by RA, compared to older generations.
Select an emotional state from the list below to discover the impact on different age groups of people living with RA.
Base: Total Asked 5368, <40 837, 40-59 2642, 60+ 1889
All data represented in this graphic is taken from the results of the RA Matters survey