Factors associated with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee in Hong Kong Chinese: Obesity, joint injury, and occupational activities

In 1998, a case-control study was conducted in Hong Kong on hospital patien ts with osteoarthritis of the hip (n = 138) and osteoarthritis of the knee (n = 658). Age- and sex-matched controls were recruited consecutively from general practice clinics in the same region. The following three risk facto rs were found to be associated with osteoarthritis of both the hip and the knee: first, a history of joint injury: for osteoarthritis of the hip, the odds ratio = 25.1 (95% confidence interval (Cl): 3.5, 181) in men and 43.3 (95% Cl: 11.7, 181) in women; for osteoarthritis of the knee, the odds rati o = 12.1 (95% Cl: 3.4, 42.5) in men and 7.6 (95% Cl: 3.8, 15.2) in women; s econd, climbing stairs frequently: for osteoarthritis of the hip, the odds ratio = 12.5 (95% Cl: 1.5, 104.3) in men and 2.3 (95% Cl: 0.6, 8.1) in wome n; for osteoarthritis of the knee, the odds ratio = 2.5 (95% Cl: 1.0, 6.4) in men and 5.1 (95% Cl: 2.5, 10.2) in women; third, lifting heavy weight fr equently: for osteoarthritis of the hip, the odds ratio = 3.1 (95% Cl: 0.7, 14.3) in men and 2.4 (95% Cl: 1.1, 5.3) in women; for osteoarthritis of th e knee, the odds ratio = 5.4 (95% Cl: 2.4, 12.4) in men and 2.0 (95% Cl: 1. 2, 3.1) in women. In addition, subjects whose height and weight were in the highest quartile were at increased risk of osteoarthritis of the hip and k nee, respectively (p < 0.05).