Osteoarthritis (OA) affects 27 million Americans but its affect on mortality is uncertain. A recent showed that while self-reported OA does not increase mortality, radiographic OA of the knee is associated with higher risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and renal disease.
An analysis of adults in the 1988–94 and 1999–2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data looked at age-related, self-reported, and radiographic knee OA defined as Kellgren–Lawrence score ≥2.
Among a sample of 51,938 participants, 2,589 of them had knee X-rays, with a prevalence of 6.6%. By contrast self-reported OA was seen in 40.6%. The latter was not associated with mortality.
Radiographic knee OA was associated with an increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases (HR 1.43, 95% CI 1.32-1.64), diabetes (HR 2.04, 95% CI 1.87-2.23) and renal diseases (HR 1.14, 95% CI 1.04-1.25). Conversely, radiographic knee OA was associated with a reduced risk of cancer mortality (HR 0.88, 95% CI 0.80-0.96).
Those diagnosed with early radiographic knee OA onset (before age 40) had a higher risk of mortality from all causes (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.43-1.65) and from diabetes (HR 7.18, 95% CI 5.45-9.45).
Obese participants with radiographic knee OA were at increased risk of mortality from cardiovascular diseases (HR 1.89, 95% CI 1.56-2.29) and diabetes (HR: 3.42, 95% CI 3.01-3.88).
, is the director of clinical rheumatology at the Baylor Research Institute and a professor of medicine and rheumatology at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He is the executive editor of . A version of this article first appeared on RheumNow, a news, information and commentary site dedicated to the field of rheumatology. Register to receive their free rheumatology newsletter.
Primary Source
International Journal of Epidemiology
Mendy A, et al “Osteoarthritis and risk of mortality in the USA: A population-based cohort study” Intern J Epidemiol 2018; doi: 10.1093/ije/dyy187.