Article Abstract:
Osteoarthritis (OA), a long-term disease of the joints, is characterized by destruction of joint cartilage, overgrowth and abnormal formation of the bone, and impaired joint function. OA affecting several sites and associated with the formation of nodes or aggregations of cells is called nodal generalized osteoarthritis (NGOA), and occurs most often in the fifth and sixth decades of life. The severity of symptoms and the degree of functional impairment of the joints are the most important factors affecting outcome. The effects of OA on the normal changes in the functional capacity of the hand that occur with aging are not known. Erosive osteoarthritis (EOA) differs from NGOA in having more inflammation, erosion of the bone at the joint, and greater instability and ankylosis, or immobility, of the joint. EOA would be expected to affect hand function adversely. Hand function, pain, and X-ray changes were assessed in 57 patients with NGOA, ten patients with EOA, and 52 normal subjects. Patients with EOA showed the greatest impairment of hand function. There was no relation between hand function and extent of X-ray change. Among normal subjects, older persons took longer to complete all tasks involving hand function and had a weaker power grip, and a similar correlation was observed among the patients. The difference between NGOA patients and normal subjects was more pronounced among younger persons, while persons older than 80 years had similar hand function in both groups. The results show that the functional outcome in NGOA patients is good, and OA has little effect on the function of the aging hand. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
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Article Abstract:
Patients referred to the hospital for osteoarthritis of the knee may often have radiographic changes in both sides and in more than one compartment of their knee. Osteoarthritis is a noninflammatory degenerative joint disease that mainly occurs in older individuals. Among 252 patients between 34 and 91 years old with osteoarthritis of the knee who were X-rayed, 85% had radiographic changes in both sides of their knee. Among 470 knees, 59% had changes in two compartments and 6% had changes in three compartments. Men were more likely to have changes on only one side of their knee than women. Many patients had deposition of calcium pyrophosphate crystals in their knee.
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Article Abstract:
The types of information collected about pain prevalence can be significantly altered by subtly changing the wording of survey questions. Researchers surveyed 4057 people aged 40 to 79 years about knee pain frequency using a three-question survey and later examined the knees of 459 respondents. Pain frequency varied from 19.3% to 28.3% depending on whether the question asked if knee pain lasting for a month ever occurred, occurred within the last year, or occurred in the last month. Respondents who had frequent pain in the last month were more likely to have measurable knee damage.
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