The association of BMI and knee pain among persons with radiographic knee osteoarthritis: A cross-sectional study
Matthew W. Rogers, MS and Frances Vaughn Wilder, PhD
The Arthritis Research Institute of America, Inc.

The more you weigh, the more painful is your knee OA.  There is a very clear trend (as we’d say in science).  Body mass index is frequently divided into four increasingly heavy categories: Pre-Obese, Obese I, Obese II, and Obese III.

If you are slightly over-weight ((Pre-Obese category), you are 60% more likely to have pain with your knee OA.
If you are in the Obese I category, you are over 2 times more likely to have pain with your knee OA.
If you are in the Obese II category, you are over 4 times more likely to have pain with your knee OA.
If you are in the Obese III category, you are almost 9 times more likely to have pain with your knee OA.

Background.  A substantial percentage of persons with knee osteoarthritis do not present with pain.  It is suspected that such persons tend toward lower body mass index (BMI).  The purpose of the study is to explore the relationship of BMI and knee pain among persons with knee osteoarthritis. 

Methods. Subjects in the Clearwater Osteoarthritis Study with knee osteoarthritis (N = 576) were classified as reporting knee pain (Pain) or no knee pain (No Pain).  W.H.O. classification BMI categories were compared by pain status.  Risk for having knee osteoarthritis was calculated for each of the four BMI groups. BMI group was the risk factor and knee pain status was the outcome factor.

Results. Pain subjects presented with a higher mean BMI (30.4 kg/m2) compared with No Pain subjects (27.5 kg/m2) (p < 0.0001).  For successively higher BMI categories, we found a correspondingly higher risk of having pain.  Persons with a slightly elevated BMI had a 70% increased chance of having knee osteoarthritis. Those persons in the highest BMI category (i.e. very overweight) were over 8 times more likely to report pain associated with their knee osteoarthritis.

Conclusions. Among subjects with knee osteoarthritis, those subjects presenting with an elevated BMI had a higher risk of knee pain compared to those subjects with a healthy (normal) BMI.  Since BMI is a changeable factor associated with knee osteoarthritis, more research is needed to confirm these findings and identify the mechanisms behind the relationship.

 

Since 1988, the Arthritis Research Institute of America (ARIA) has been studying thousands of participants to learn more about osteoarthritis.  The 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit research organization is based in Clearwater, FL, but its findings have been published worldwide.  ARIA’s x-ray database is globally acknowledged as one of the most complete sources of information about the progression of osteoarthritis. For information, call (727) 461-4054 v


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