Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Teaching Center in Guilan Province, Iran

According to the literature, cardiovascular diseases are highly prevalent globally, while there is an increased risk of cardiovascular-related death in osteoarthritic patients. Therefore, the present study intended to investigate the cardiovascular risk factor prevalence in osteoarthritic patients.

This cross-sectional, descriptive study was performed at the orthopedics clinics of the Guilan University of Medical Sciences in 2017. The inclusion criteria were the 40-75-year-old patients who were selected using the convenience sampling method. They were diagnosed with osteoarthritis, and gave informed consent for participation. The study data included demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, medical history, and anthropometric measurements. After a qualitative analysis, the data were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16.

A total of 100 patients with knee osteoarthritis, including 79 female and 21 male patients with the mean age of 53.9±11.9 years, were included in the study. The prevalence of diabetes, hypertension, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and smoking in the participants was 31%, 33%, 45%, 51%, and 9%, respectively. 12% reported a history of previous heart attacks. Moreover, the prevalence of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and metabolic syndrome was higher in women than men. Also, the mean age of the male patients was significantly higher than women (P = 0.03).

Given the high prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors in osteoarthritis patients, it is essential to notice the early cardiovascular disease detection in patients with knee osteoarthritis, especially in female patients.