The epidemiology of knee osteoarthritis: Results from the framingham osteoarthritis study
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Overview
Population-based cohort study reveals rising knee osteoarthritis prevalence linked to obesity and joint stress in older adults, highlighting major targets for prevention.
Key Points
- To determine the prevalence, risk factors, and functional disability associated with radiographic and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis in community-dwelling older adults.
- Assessed independently living elderly participants in the early 1980s following more than 35 years of prospective longitudinal follow-up.
- Evaluated radiographic and symptomatic knee osteoarthritis in relation to historical risk factors including body mass index, joint trauma, occupational strain, and smoking.
- Knee osteoarthritis prevalence progressively increases throughout older age, demonstrating a higher frequency in women than in men.
- Obesity reliably precedes and elevates the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis—especially in women—alongside knee trauma, chondrocalcinosis, and occupational bending or heavy labor.
- Radiographic knee osteoarthritis negatively associates with smoking, exhibits no clear relationship with estrogen therapy, and strongly predicts lower extremity disability rather than upper extremity impairment.
Cite This Study
David T. Felson (1990) studied this question.