title: [A comparative study on the prevalence of osteoarthritis in middle and old-aged people from the urban and the rural area in Heilongjiang province].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of osteoarthritis in inhabitants aged 40 years old and above from urban and rural areas in Heilongjiang province.
  
  
  METHODS
  Through multistage stratified cluster random sampling methods, residents aged 40 years and above were selected. All subjects were given a standardized questionnaire and were conducted a radiographic examination on hands, knees, neck spine and lumbar spine after informed consent. All statistics were performed by SPSS13.0.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1196 residents were surveyed, which including 573 males and 623 female subjects. The prevalence of osteoarthritis in cervical spine, lumbar spine, knee and hand for men were 26.00%, 31.20%, 11.87%, 15.53%, respectively and that were 34.80%, 30.20%, 20.06%, 27.93% for women respectively. The prevalence of osteoarthritis increased with aging both in men and women. Prevalence in 60 - 70 age group achieved the peak. The prevalence rates became relatively low among those over the 70 years old than expected. The most common sites of osteoarthritis were knees and hands (16.10%), followed by cervical and lumbar spine (12.40%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of osteoarthritis was generally high in middle and old-aged people in Heilongjiang province.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, Harbin 150081, China.
authors.forename: Jie-sheng
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.forename: Li-ying
authors.initials: LY
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Shu-qing
authors.initials: SQ
authors.lastname: Tao
authors.forename: Fu-lan
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Li-li
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Dan-dan
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shi-de
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Ya-shuang
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Tian-zun
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Tao
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014505:Urban Population