KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS IN FORMER RUNNERS, SOCCER PLAYERS, WEIGHT LIFTERS, AND SHOOTERS

Objective, To determine the relationship between different physical lo ading conditions and findings of knee osteoarthritis (OA), Methods. We selected 117 male former top-level athletes (age range 45-68 years) w ho had participated in sports activities with distinctly different loa ding conditions: 28 had been long-distance runners, 31 soccer players, 29 weight lifters, and 29 shooters, Histories of lifetime occupationa l and athletic knee loading, knee injuries, and knee symptoms were obt ained, and subjects were examined clinically and radiographically for knee findings of OA, Results. The prevalence of tibiofemoral or patell o; femoral OA based on radiographic examination was 3% in shooters, 29 % in soccer players, 31% in weight lifters, and 14% in runners (P = 0. 016 between groups). Soccer players had the highest prevalence of tibi ofemoral OA (26%), and weight lifters had the highest prevalence of pa tellofemoral OA (28%), Subjects with radiographically documented knee OA had more symptoms, clinical findings, and functional limitations th an did subjects without knee OA, By stepwise logistic regression analy sis, the risk for having knee OA was increased in subjects with previo us knee injuries (odds ratio [OR] 4.73), high body mass index at the a ge of 20 (OR 1.76/unit of increasing body mass index), previous partic ipation in heavy work (OR 1.08/work-year), kneeling or squatting work (OR 1,10/work-year), and in subjects participating in soccer (OR 5.21) , Conclusion, Soccer players and weight lifters are at increased risk of developing premature knee OA, The increased risk is explained in pa rt by knee injuries in soccer players and by high body mass in weight lifters.