title: The epidemiology of osteoarthritis.
abstract: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability and its incidence is rising due to increasing obesity and an ageing population. Risk factors can be divided into person-level factors, such as age, sex, obesity, genetics, race/ethnicity and diet, and joint-level factors including injury, malalignment and abnormal loading of the joints. The interaction of these risk factors is complex and provides a challenge to the managing physician. The purpose of this review is to illustrate how each of these factors interact together to instigate incident OA as well as to outline the need for ongoing epidemiologic studies for the future prevention of both incident and progressive OA. It is only by understanding the impact of this disease and the modifiable risk factors that we will be able to truly target public health prevention interventions appropriately.
authors.affiliation: Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: vjoh6545@uni.sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: Victoria L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Rheumatology Department, Royal North Shore Hospital and Kolling Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia. Electronic address: David.Hunter@sydney.edu.au.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hunter
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: Aetiology; Epidemiology; Osteoarthritis