Prevalence of Knee Osteoarthritis among Elderly Patients Attending Orthopaedics Department: A Hospital Based Study

Abstract

Background: OA (Osteoarthritis) knee incidence is rising by increasing average age of general population. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease found in old aged population. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine the prevalence and risk factors for knee osteoarthritis in elderly men and women. Methods: The study was conducted in the Department of Orthopaedics, Varun Arjun Medical College, Banthra, Shahjahanpur, U.P, India from February 2016 to July 2016. On the basis of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 125 patients were randomly selected from OPD and IPD of Hospital. The interview was structured as follows. Data was recorded on a standardized predesigned and a pre-tested questionnaire. Questionnaire focused on Socio-demographic profile and assessment of possible risk factors (age, family history, obesity, physical activity, and occupational knee bending and knee injury). Measurements like height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. Results: A complete interview was possible in 102 subjects (58.62% response rate). Participation was poorer among men and there was a slightly higher prevalence of radiographic changes of OA in women than in men. However, there was a significantly higher proportion of women with symptomatic disease (14% of all women versus 9% of all men; P = 0.003). Conclusions: : In our study, we observed that there is association between age, sex and BMI with OA. The incidence of OA increased as the age advances; hence it is likely that if preventive measures can be taken in the earlier age groups OA can be prevented.