Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 17 Jun 1999

Vol. 506 No. 4

Written Answers. - Arthritis Sufferers.

Enda Kenny

Question:

80 Mr. Kenny asked the Minister for Health and Children the number of people suffering from arthritis in County Mayo; the proportion of families in the county affected by arthritic conditions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15660/99]

Minister for Health and Children (Mr. Cowen)

As arthritis is not a notifiable disease and as most cases are treated by general practitioners rather than in hospital, comprehensive information on the number of people suffering from the condition is not available. For persons with the condition who do require hospitalisation, data are available from the hospital in-patient inquiry system which records information on hospitalisation in all publicly funded acute hospitals. For the period 1994 to 1998 the number of persons resident in County Mayo who were hospitalised for either rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthritis are provided in the table below. It should be noted that if patients are admitted more than once in a given year, each attendance is recorded separately in HIPE.

Number of Hospitalisations of Residents of County Mayo where the Principal Diagnosis was either Rheumatoid Arthritis or Osteoarthritis by Age Group and Sex, 1994 to 1998

	1994				1995				1996				1997				1998*
Age Group	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total	Male	Female	Total
0-44 years	5	10	15	4	16	20	5	13	18	10	18	28	11	15	26
45-54 years	8	10	18	8	2	10	7	7	14	10	30	40	11	16	27
55-64 years	23	25	48	32	15	47	25	22	47	22	31	53	17	22	39
65-74 years	67	49	116	49	55	104	48	59	107	45	64	109	45	44	89
75-84 years	25	42	67	25	64	89	20	49	69	28	45	73	24	43	67
85 years and over	3	5	8	2	7	9	3	12	15	4	4	8	2	6	8
Total	131	141	272	120	159	279	108	162	270	119	192	311	110	146	256

*Data for 1998 are provisional.

Source: Hospital In-Patient Enquiry (HIPE) System.