Obesity, overweight and patterns of osteoarthritis: The Ulm OsteoarthritisStudy

The objective of this study was to assess the association between obesity a nd osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, hip, and hand. OA patterns were studied in 809 patients with knee or hip joint replacement due to OA. Patients wit h OA were categorized as having bilateral or generalized OA according to th e presence of radiographic OA in the contralateral joint or different finge r joints, and as normal weight, overweight, or obese according to their bod y mass index (BMI). Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for relative weight and OA patterns were estimated with multivariable logistic regression. Eighty-five percent of participants had bilateral OA, 26% had g eneralized OA, and 31% were obese. Obesity (BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m(2); OR = 8.1; 95% CT: 2.4-28) and overweight (BMI greater than or equ al to 25 kg/m(2); OR = 5.9; 95% CI: 2.0-18) were strongly associated with b ilateral knee OA. No association between obesity and bilateral hip OA (OR = 0.7; 95% CI: 0.3-1.7) nor generalized OA (OR = 1.1; 95% CI: 0.6-21) was ob served. Obesity seems to be a mechanical rather than a systemic risk factor fur OA with the knee joint being especially susceptible. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.