Factors associated with osteoarthritis in elderly people in Shanghai: A cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease of mostly’ middle-aged and elderly people that contributes a high burden of disease in China and worldwide. However, many putative risk factors associated with OA in elderly populations remain substantially unclear. Methods In our cross-sectional study, 2177 residents of the Putuo District of Shanghai aged 40 years and above were recruited to complete a questionnaire that queried basic health information and assessed the prevalence of OA. A non-conditional and an ordinal logistic regression model was used to analyze the associations between putative risk factors and the severity of confirmed OA. Results Among 2099 eligible participants, the average age was 65.21 years (41.4% were male), and 551 self-reported OA [prevalence = 26.25% (24.13, 28.51)]. The prevalence of knee OA were the most common (23.11%, 21.12 to 25.23). OA was associated with age ≥ 60 years (aOR = 1.56; 1.18, 2.07), overweight BMI (24∼27.9 kg/m2) (1.30; 1.02 to 1.65), female sex (1.66; 1.30 to 2.12), unmarried status (1.41; 1.03 to 1.90), a family history of OA (6.23; 4.17 to 9.38), two or more comorbidities (2.18; 1.52 to 3.11), and prior injury to any joint (12.02; 4.86 to 31.22). Conclusions Old age, Female sex,family history and multiple comorbidities were significant contributors to promote the severity of OA. Appropriate prevention and treatment strategies must be developed to reduce the burden of the disease.