No strong relationship between body mass index and clinical hand osteoarthritis: results from a population-based case-control study.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this population-based case-control study was to investigate whether a high body mass index (BMI) is a risk factor for clinical hand osteoarthritis (OA).


METHODS
Persons living in Ullensaker municipality in Norway who were aged 20-52 years in 1990 reported height and weight in 1990, 1994, 2004, and 2010 (n = 1276). Cases (clinical hand OA in 2010, n = 59) were compared to controls (participants without self-reported OA or hand pain in 2010, n = 805) with regard to the prospectively measured BMI by means of a generalized estimating equation (GEE) analysis adjusted for age, sex, time, and education.


RESULTS
The mean age of hand OA cases was 64 (SD = 7.5) years in 2010 and 78% were women. There was no association between total average BMI over the entire period and later clinical hand OA (p = 0.320). Cases had a higher mean BMI in 1990 [unstandardized B = 0.93, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.07-1.79] and in 1994 (B = 0.75, 95% CI 0.22-1.28) but there were no differences between the groups in 2004 or 2010.


CONCLUSIONS
The study lend support to the hypothesis that having a higher BMI when young or middle-aged might be associated with later hand OA.
Department of Rheumatology, National Resource Centre for Rehabilitation in Rheumatology, Diakonhjemmet Hospital , Norway.
K
K
Magnusson
N
N
Østerås
I K
IK
Haugen
P
P
Mowinckel
L
L
Nordsletten
B
B
Natvig
K B
KB
Hagen
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D050823:Hand Joints / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D009664:Norway; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires