The association of obesity with joint pain and osteoarthritis in the HANES data.

Data from 4225 persons from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HANES) was used to determine whether obesity was associated with osteoarthritis (OA) or joint pain. Subjects were divided into four groups on the basis of sex and race. We found that obesity was associated with OA of the knee for each sex/race group (p less than 0.01). The association was strongest for women, and it was present even for subjects without evidence of knee pain on physical examination. Frame size was not significantly associated with OA of the knee. Relative weight was weakly associated with OA of the hips in white women and nonwhite men but not significantly associated with OA of the sacroiliac joint. Diabetes did not seem to be an important risk factor for OA. These results suggest that the additional mechanical stress resulting from obesity is the principal reason for the association between obesity and OA.

[1]  James J Schlesselman.  Case-Control Studies: Design, Conduct, Analysis , 1982 .

[2]  P. Byers,et al.  Bone density, osteoarthrosis of the hip, and fracture of the upper end of the femur. , 1972, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[3]  J. O'Connor,et al.  The relationship between degenerative changes and load-bearing in the human hip. , 1973, The Journal of bone and joint surgery. British volume.

[4]  J. Lawrence.  Hypertension in relation to musculoskeletal disorders. , 1975, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[5]  A. Fraga,et al.  Severe osteoarthritis of the elbow in foundry workers. , 1973, Archives of environmental health.

[6]  A. Engel.  Osteoarthritis and body measurements. , 1968, Vital and health statistics. Series 11, Data from the National Health Survey.

[7]  R. Stecher.  Heberden's nodes; a clinical description of osteo-arthritis of the finger joints. , 1955, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[8]  J. Kellgren,et al.  Osteoarthrosis in Patients and Populations* , 1961, British medical journal.

[9]  R. Acheson,et al.  New Haven survey of joint diseases. XVII. Relationship between some systemic characteristics and osteoarthrosis in a general population. , 1975, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[10]  I. Paul,et al.  Response of joints to impact loading. 3. Relationship between trabecular microfractures and cartilage degeneration. , 1973, Journal of biomechanics.

[11]  R. Leach,et al.  Obesity: its relationship to osteoarthritis of the knee. , 1973, Clinical orthopaedics and related research.

[12]  P. Saville,et al.  Age and weight in osteoarthritis of the hip. , 1968, Arthritis and rheumatism.

[13]  J. Kellgren,et al.  Osteo-arthrosis and Disk Degeneration in an Urban Population * , 1958, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[14]  J. S. Lawrence,et al.  The Epidemiology of Chronic Rheumatism , 1964 .

[15]  R. D'ambrosia,et al.  An epidemiological study of severe osteoarthritis. , 1978, Orthopedics.

[16]  Robert E. Sweeney,et al.  A Transformation for Simplifying the Interpretation of Coefficients of Binary Variables in Regression Analysis , 1972 .

[17]  R. Silberberg,et al.  Aging and osteoarthritis of the human sternoclavicular joint. , 1959, The American journal of pathology.

[18]  J. Lawrence,et al.  Osteo-Arthrosis: Prevalence in the Population and Relationship between Symptoms and X-ray Changes , 1966, Annals of the rheumatic diseases.

[19]  G. Smidt,et al.  Quantitative correlations in degenerative arthritis of the knee. , 1973, The Journal of bone and joint surgery. American volume.

[20]  G. Hall,et al.  MALIGNANT HYPERTHERMIA: A HUMAN AND PORCINE STRESS SYNDROME? , 1975, The Lancet.

[21]  R. Gold,et al.  Clinical and radiological survey of the incidence of osteoarthrosis among obese patients. , 1976, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

[22]  L. Danielsson,et al.  34 Clinical and Roentgenologic Study of Knee Joints with Osteophytes , 1970, Clinical orthopaedics and related research.

[23]  I. Paul,et al.  Role of mechanical factors in pathogenesis of primary osteoarthritis. , 1972, Lancet.