Hormone replacement therapy and patterns of osteoarthritis: baseline data from the Ulm Osteoarthritis Study

Objectives-It has been suggested that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may protect against osteoarthritis (OA). The aim of this paper was to assess t he association between HRT and radiographically defined patterns of OA. Methods-475 consecutive women aged 50 years or older (mean age 66.1) who un derwent hip or knee joint replacement because of advanced OA in four hospit als in south west Germany were enrolled in a cross sectional study, Partici pants underwent a standardised interview including detailed history of medi cation use and a physical examination. Furthermore, radiographs of the join t being replaced and of the contralateral joint as well as of both hands we re obtained. Patients were categorised as having bilateral or unilateral OA according to the presence or absence of radiographic OA in the contralater al joint. If radiographic OA of different hand and finger joint groups was present, participants were categorised as having generalised OA (GOA). Logi stic regression was used to estimate odds ratios and their 95% confidence i ntervals for the association between HRT and bilateral or GOA while adjusti ng for potential confounders. Results-Fifty five women (11.6%) were using HRT. The median duration of use was 5.4 years. The prevalence of bilateral and GOA was similar among users of ORT (86.3% and 27.5%, respectively) and among non-users of HRT (88.7% a nd 35.7%, respectively). After adjustment for potential confounding factors , the odds ratios (95% confidence intervals) of bilateral OA and GOA among HRT users compared with non-users was 1.21 (0.48, 3.03) and 1.21 (0.53, 2.7 4), respectively. Conclusion-Despite limited generalisability because of the selective study sample, these data do not support the hypothesis that LIFT acts as a system ic protective factor against OA.