Prevalence and Evaluation of Risk Factors in Primary Knee Osteoarthritis

The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of these factors in knee osteoarthritis (OA).Subjects and This prospective cross-sectional descriptive study was performed during a period of 12 months. Inclusion criteria consisted of symptomatic or radiologic OA in patients of more than 40 years of age without previous disease or trauma to the knee joint. The patient's age, sex, BMI, living style, any kind of knee deformity as well as questionnaire-based Modified Oxford Knee Score was recorded for each patient. Four hundred patients with knee OA were observed. Sixty nine and half percent were 60 years or older. 63% were women and 37% were men. Seventy five percent of women were postmenopausal. There was a direct relationship between increase in BMI and genuvarum deformity there was increased occurrence of more severe OA in other joints (e.g. spine) in 8.7% of the patients. The most common risk factors associated with knee osteoarthritis were obesity, aging, female gender, post menopause, genuvarum and traditional habits such as kneeling, and squatting. By correcting and modifying some of these factors, such as correction osteotomy for genovarum before 40 years old age, the rate or symptoms of the knee OA can be decreased or minimized. Additional research is required to determine the other risk factors such as the effects of genetics, metabolism and nutrition in this disease.