Lifetime Risk of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis
 Nearly
1 of 2 adults will develop symptomatic knee
osteoarthritis by age 85
A newly published CDC study reports that a person’s lifetime risk for
developing symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) is nearly one in two, or 46%. The
study authors also found that nearly 2 of 3 obese adults will
develop painful knee osteoarthritis during their lifetime. Lifetime risk
is the risk of developing a condition over the course of a lifetime. In
this study, we defined lifetime risk as the likelihood of developing
symptomatic osteoarthritis in at least one knee by age 85.
The study provides what are likely the first lifetime risk estimates
of knee osteoarthritis in the United States. Knee osteoarthritis—a
common form of arthritis that wears away the cartilage cushioning the
knee joint—is a leading cause of arthritis disability. In 2006, $18
billion were spent on hospital costs associated with total knee
replacements.
CDC led the study of lifetime risk and used data from the Johnston
County Osteoarthritis (JoCo) Project, a study of approximately 3,200
residents, aged 45 years and older, in rural North Carolina. The JoCo Project,
which receives CDC funding, is conducted by researchers at the Thurston
Arthritis Research Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill. The JoCo Project is one of the largest long-term studies of knee
and hip osteoarthritis in the United States, and is one of the first to
include both blacks and whites.
Read more about this CDC study—
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Page last modified:
September 4, 2008
Content Source: Division of
Adult and Community Health,
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
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