The experience of pain and emergent osteoarthritis of the knee

Discrepancies exist between radiographic osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK) a nd report of knee joint pain. Little is known about how these two definitio ns of osteoarthritis (OA) and their correlates differ between African Ameri can (AA) and Caucasian (CA) women. Objective: We compared the prevalence of radiographic OAK and knee joint pa in in AA and CA women, and the congruency of these outcomes according to ag e, body size, and knee injury. Design: A cross-sectional study of African American and Caucasian women age d 40-53 years (N=829) in Southeast Michigan used the Keligren and Lawrence Atlas of Standard Radiographs of Arthritis to characterize radiographs of b oth knee joints (weight bearing) and self-report of knee pain. Results: Current pain was a significantly more sensitive predictor of radio graphic OAK among AA women (Se=0.51) compared to CA women (Se=0.35). Specif icity was similar between AA women (Sp=0.77) and CA women (Sp=0.82). Positi ve predictive value was significantly greater for AA compared with CA women (PV+=0.40 and PV+=0.15, respectively). The odds of having radiographic OAK increased with BMI >32 kg/m(2) in both groups, Knee pain was related to BM I in CA women, but not AA women. Previous knee injury was associated with k nee pain in both AA and CA women (OR=3.0 and OR=2.4). Conclusions: Joint pain in AA women was more likely to be associated with r adiographic OAK as compared with CA women. This suggests differences in the se two groups in both how pain is experienced in the OAK process and in the prevalence of non-OAK related pain in knee joints. (C) 2001 OsteoArthritis Research Society International.