Spotlight Osteoarthritis

Lifetime Risk of Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

A newly published CDC study reports that the lifetime risk of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) may be nearly one in two, or 46%. The study authors also found that nearly two in three obese adults may develop painful knee osteoarthritis during their lifetime.

Nearly half of American adults may develop symptoms of osteoarthritis in at least one knee by age 85.

A new CDC study reports that the lifetime risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA) with symptoms is nearly one in two, or 46%. The study authors also found that nearly two in three obese adults will develop painful knee osteoarthritis over their lifetime.

The study provides what are likely the first lifetime risk estimates of symptomatic 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 2004, $14.3 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:

• PubMed study abstract
• Arthritis Foundation press release [PDF - 60K]