Obesity Remains Top Risk Factor for Knee Pain and Arthritis
Researchers in the UK recently confirmed top risk factors for knee osteoarthritis (OA), a common condition in older adults and a major cause of pain and disability.
High body mass index, previous knee injury, age, female sex, and the presence of hand OA were among the top drivers of the condition, according to new research in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage.
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“A quarter of new cases of knee OA may be due to being overweight or obese,” says lead study author Victoria Silverwood, MBChB, of the Arthritis Research UK Primary Care Centre at Keele University in Staffordshire, England. “Clinically, if doctors can identify patients who are at risk of knee OA prior to the onset of symptoms then they can intervene and try to reduce the impact of those risk factors.”
Looking at risk factors for the onset of knee pain and OA in patients ages 50 and above, Silverwood and her colleagues conducted a new systematic review of 46 cohort studies up to December 2012. They also performed a meta-analysis that included 34 studies in which risk factors had consistent definitions across the board.
In patients with new onset of knee pain, population attributable fractions indicated that 5.1% of cases were due to previous knee injury and 28.8% were related to being overweight or obese.
“Our findings give reinforcement of obesity and previous knee injury as strong risk factors of knee OA,” Silverwood says. “We have examined predictors of onset, so the messages are really around prevention of knee OA, and particularly encouragement to patients who are overweight to lose weight to prevent knee OA, rather than about treatment of those with knee OA.”
However, for patients who already have established knee OA, losing weight can also be helpful as it reduces the load on the knee joint and leads to less pain upon movement.
“Obesity, in particular, needs to be a major target for prevention of development of knee pain,” the authors wrote. “Clinicians can use the identified risk factors to identify and manage patients at risk of developing or increasing knee pain.”
Silverwood and colleagues continue to conduct research into the causes, long-term outcomes, impact, and management of OA within primary care. “More specifically, right now we are looking at the current evidence on risk factors for progression of severity in those with OA,” she says.
—Colleen Mullarkey
Reference
Silverwood V, Blagojevic-Bucknall M, Jinks C, et al. Current evidence on risk factors for knee osteoarthritis in older adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2014 Nov 29 [epub ahead of print].