Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2014 Oct 20. doi: 10.1002/acr.22499. [Epub ahead of print]
Lower limb osteoarthritis and the risk of falls in a community-based longitudinal study of adults with and without osteoarthritis.
Doré AL, Golightly YM, Mercer VS, Shi XA, Renner JB, Jordan JM, Nelson AE.
Abstract
Objective: Knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) are known risk factors for falls, but whether they together additionally contribute to falls risk is unknown. This study utilizes a biracial cohort of men and women to examine the influence of lower limb OA burden on the risk for future falls.
Methods: A longitudinal analysis was performed using data from 2 time points of a large cohort. The outcome of interest was falls at follow up. Covariates included age, sex, race, body mass index, a history of prior falls, symptomatic OA of the hip and/or knee, a history of neurologic or pulmonary diseases, and current use of narcotic medications. Symptomatic OA was defined as patient reported symptoms and radiographic evidence of OA in the same joint. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine associations between covariates and falls at follow-up. Results: The odds of falling increased with an increasing number of lower limb symptomatic OA joints: those with 1 joint had 53% higher odds, those with 2 joints had 74% higher odds, those with 3-4 OA joints had 85% higher odds. When controlling for covariates, patients who had symptomatic knee or hip OA had an increased likelihood of falling (aOR 1.39 95% CI [1.02, 1.88]; aOR 1.60 95% CI [1.14, 2.24], respectively).
Conclusions: This study reveals the risk for falls increases with additional symptomatic OA lower limb joints and confirms that symptomatic hip and knee OA are important risk factors for falls. © 2014 American College of Rheumatology.
Copyright © 2014 American College of Rheumatology.