Fig. 3

The burden of musculoskeletal disease in the United States and the funding gap for research on musculoskeletal conditions (2009–2013). a. Despite the major health care burden presented by musculoskeletal conditions, research funding falls well below that of most other conditions. Injury research accounted for half of the musculoskeletal condition research dollars ($4 billion) from NIH for the years 2009 to 2013. Funding for arthritis research is second, at $1.4 billion, followed by osteoporosis ($965 million). These numbers are well below the $8.6 to $55.2 billion in funding for the top 25 NIH research areas, dominated by cancer, cardiovascular disease and other disease areas. b. Research funding allocated to different musculoskeletal conditions by NIAMS. The data clearly indicate that musculoskeletal conditions receive less funding support compared to other disease areas despite the heavy burden on healthcare systems worldwide