title: Comorbidities in patients with osteoarthritis: frequency and impact on pain and physical function.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As the prevalence of osteoarthritis (OA) increases with age, the coexistence of other chronic diseases is common.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the frequency of comorbidities in OA patients and to measure their impact on pain and physical function of those patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study in OA patients of a public rheumatology clinic. Pain was measured by use of the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and physical function by use of the Lequesne's and SACRAH indices. A screening for depression was performed, as were the following measurements: anthropometric data; blood pressure; fasting glycemia; and lipid profile.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study assessed 91 patients (mean age 59.3 years; 91.4% female). The metabolic syndrome frequency was 54.9%. Hypertension occurred in 75.8% of the patients, dyslipidemia in 52.6%, and obesity in 57.1%. The screening for depression was positive in 61.3% of patients. When comparing the metabolic syndrome components individually, patients with hypertension had higher SACRAH scores, with statistically significant differences (P = 0.035). For the other variables, no differences among the Lequesne's, SACRAH and VAS scores were observed.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This group of OA patients showed a high frequency of depression, metabolic syndrome and its components in isolation, which can impact the pain and physical function of those patients. Such results showed the need for investigating and treating those comorbidities in OA patients.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Medicina Integral Professor Fernando Figueira, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alice Abath
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Leite
authors.forename: Aline Jurema Gesteira
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Beatriz de Arruda Matheos de
authors.initials: Bde A
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Adriana Valentina Lopes
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Padilha
authors.forename: Emidio Cavalcanti de
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Albuquerque
authors.forename: Claudia Diniz Lopes
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Marques
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology