A Call to Action for Musculoskeletal Research Funding

Abstract

As a result of an aging population, musculoskeletal disease is a growing source of health and economic burden in the United States. In 2019, musculoskeletal conditions affected approximately 127.4 million people (more than a third of the U.S. population); they were the top driver of health-care spending in 2016, with an estimated direct annual cost of $380.9 billion. While musculoskeletal conditions represent a substantial and growing burden in terms of prevalence, disability, and health-care costs, National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding has remained disproportionately allocated to other disease conditions. Therefore, our purpose was to provide an assessment of the current burden of musculoskeletal disease in terms of prevalence, disability, and health-care costs, and compare the changing burden of disease to trends in NIH funding.

National Institutes of Health Funding to Departments of Orthopaedic Surgery at U.S. Medical Schools from 2015 to 2021

“…However, many institutes provide statistics on the score percentiles above which almost all R01 applications are funded 20 . Although funding for orthopaedic surgery departments has increased, this change has been proportional to that of the overall budget and does not match the growing disease burden and economic impact of musculoskeletal disease 10,11 . In fact, orthopaedic surgery departments had the lowest NIH funding compared with other surgical specialties in 2014 7 and have continued to receive lower funding than most other surgical specialties, ranking second to last after urology in 2021.…”

“…Insufficient NIH funding to orthopaedic surgery departments will likely slow the development of novel therapies for musculoskeletal disease and does not align with the increasing burden of disease as the U.S. population ages [9][10][11] . Although musculoskeletal disease represents the second-leading cause of disability globally, <2% of the NIH budget has been allocated for the purpose of mitigating it 12,13 .…”

A Research Year for Medical Students

“…George Washington University provides a calendar listing deadlines for many grants to which researchers, residents, and medical students may wish to apply 16 . However, none of these strategies change the fact that research funding needs to increase for orthopaedics, one of the highest disease burden- and quality of life-impacting specialties in medicine 14 .…”

Journal Metrics of Orthopaedic Journals between 2016 and 2021: Trends and Comparisons with Other Specialties

“…Broken down between general and specialty orthopaedic journals, general orthopaedics presented with a mean IF increase from 1.92 to 2.77, cIF from 1.68 to 2.48, and Citescore from 3.30 to 3.83, while specialty orthopaedics presented with an IF increase from 1.94 to 2.78, cIF from 1.60 to 2.43, and Citescore from 3.16 to 4.19 (►Fig. 6).…”