DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2013.v01i06.0011

Pages: 700-703

Incidence of knee OA is rising by increasing average age of general population. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common disease of aged population. The aims of the present study were to examine the prevalence and risk factors for knee osteoarthritis in among elderly men and women. Age, weight, trauma to joint due to repetiting movements in particular squatting and kneeling are common risk factors of knee OA. In patients with knee pain attribution of pain to knee OA should be considered with caution. Since a proportion of knee OA are asymptomatic and in a number of patients identification of knee OA is not possible due to low sensitivity of radiographic examination. The study was conducted in Vikhe Hospital; Ahmednagar (M.S), from July 2011to June 2012 and it was an observational study, a pilot study as a part of Ph.D. Research. The patients were randomly selected from OPD and IPD of Vikhe Hospital. The interview was structured as follows. Data was recorded on a standardized predesigned and a pre-tested questionnaire. Questionnaire focused on Socio-demographic profile and assessment of possible risk factors (age, family history, obesity, physical activity, and occupational knee bending and knee injury). Measurements like height, weight and body mass index (BMI) were recorded. A complete interview was possible in 205 subjects (73% response rate). Participation was poorer among men and There was a slightly higher prevalence of radiographic changes of OA in women than in men however, there was a significantly higher proportion of women with symptomatic disease (11% of all women versus 7% of all men; P = 0.003). In our study we observed that there is relationship between age, sex and BMI with OA. The number of people with OA increased as the age increased; hence it is likely that if preventive measures can be taken in the earlier age groups OA can be prevented.