HEIGHT AND RADIOGRAPHIC OSTEOARTHRITIS: AN EPIDEMIOLOGIC ASSESSMENT — SHORT COMMUNICATION

Purpose: To epidemiologically assess the gender-specific relationship between height and radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee, hand, foot, and cervical spine. Methods: Data collected from men (N = 1090) and women (N = 2441) aged 40 years and older participating in the Clearwater Osteoarthritis Study (1988–current) were used (N = 3531). Physical exams including radiographs were conducted. The Kellgren and Lawrence ordinal scale was used to determine evidence of radiographic OA. Results: There is a modest, albeit consistent, increase in OA prevalence among shorter-stature study subjects at all four sites in women and at two sites in men (hands and cervical spine). Our adjusted findings suggest that shorter stature is a risk factor for OA for the hands, feet, and cervical spine, with odds ratios varying between 1.25 and 1.82. After adjusting for body mass index and age, this relationship maintained statistical significance among women for hand OA. (OR = 1.57; p = 0.0001) and feet OA (OR = 1.41; p - value = 0.009). Curiously, no significant association was indicated between height and knee OA for either gender. Conclusions: Shorter stature appears to be associated with an elevated risk of OA, but particularly so for women. Future epidemiologic studies examining this relationship can offer insight into skeletal growth and development knowledge, thus further elucidating the etiology of OA.