Women with knee OA, quadriceps weakness may experience worsening knee pain

http://www.healio.com/orthopedics/arthritis/news/online/%7Bbf2f99b8-15ed-4678-b604-a111702a0a15%7D/women-with-knee-oa-quadriceps-weakness-may-experience-worsening-knee-pain

Glass N. Osteoarthr Cartil. 2013;doi:10.1016/j.joca.2013.05.016.

Women had an increased risk of knee pain from quadriceps muscle weakness during a 5-year period, according to research from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study.

“In [Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study] MOST, quadriceps weakness was associated with an increased risk of worsening of knee pain over 5 years in women,” the researchers wrote in the study. “These findings expand on those of smaller studies of shorter duration on the relationship between quadriceps strength and knee pain and suggest the possibility of underlying sex-specific differences in risk factors for worsening of knee pain.”

The researchers studied 4,648 knees from 2,404 patients from MOST, a cohort of patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) or known knee OA symptoms. Patients in the study had their baseline body mass index, history of knee surgery and physical activity level recorded, according to the abstract. The primary endpoint was knee replacement or worsening pain on the WOMAC Osteoarthritis Index pain subscale.

At 5 years, the researchers found that men with quadriceps weakness did not have increased knee pain. However, women in the lowest tertile of strength for quadriceps weakness had a 28% higher risk of knee pain than women in the highest tertile of strength, according to the abstract.