Knee osteoarthritis and its association with mental health and health‐related quality of life: A nationwide cross‐sectional study

AIM: To investigate the relationship between knee osteoarthritis, mental health and health-related quality of life (QoL). METHODS: This study included 6343 men and women aged ≥50 years from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Osteoarthritis was defined as Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥2 in the knee on radiographic images with knee pain. Mental health and health-related QoL were assessed according to three dimensions (depressive mood, psychological distress and suicidal ideation) and five domains (impaired mobility, impaired self-care, impaired usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression). The odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for mental health and health-related QoL were calculated using multiple logistic regression analyses. RESULTS: Compared with the control group, the odds ratios for depressive mood, psychological distress and suicidal ideation in the osteoarthritis group were 2.80 (95% CI 1.31-3.31), 1.92 (95% CI 1.21-3.05) and 1.97 (95% CI 1.31-2.94) in men, and 1.51 (95% CI 1.16-1.95), 1.36 (95% CI 1.07-1.72) and 1.92 (95% CI 1.49-2.46) in women after adjusting for potential confounding variables. Similarly, the odds ratios for impaired mobility, impaired self-care, impaired usual activities, pain/discomfort and anxiety/depression in the osteoarthritis group were 12.37 (95% CI 8.17-18.72), 3.02 (95% CI 1.84-4.94), 7.33 (95% CI 4.89-10.98), 8.92 (95% CI 5.92-13.45) and 2.56 (95% CI 1.52-4.29) in men, and 8.29 (95% CI 6.41-10.73), 2.53 (95% CI 1.74-3.69), 4.40 (95% CI 3.33-5.80), 4.79 (95% CI 3.72-6.17) and 1.85 (1.44-2.37) in women after adjusting for the same covariables. CONCLUSIONS: Knee osteoarthritis was significantly associated with deteriorated mental health and health-related QoL in middle-aged and older men and women. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 379-383.