Association Between Occurrence of Knee Osteoarthritis and Physical Activity in Older Adults
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
Background: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability among older adults, significantly affecting their quality of life and mobility. The relationship between physical activity and the severity of knee OA symptoms has been a subject of extensive research, with mixed results on whether physical activity exacerbates or alleviates OA symptoms.
Objective: This study aimed to investigate the association between physical activity levels and the severity of knee osteoarthritis, as well as to assess the impact of physical activity on the health-related quality of life among individuals with knee OA.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 171 patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis at four medical institutions. Data on demographics, physical activity levels, and OA severity were collected through standardized questionnaires, including the SF-36 Health Survey and the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS). Physical activity levels were categorized as poor, moderate, and good. The severity of knee OA was classified as no OA, moderate OA, and extreme OA. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS version 25, employing descriptive statistics, chi-square tests for categorical variables, and Pearson's correlation to assess the association between physical activity levels and OA severity.
Results: The study population comprised 35.1% males and 64.9% females, with a mean age of 71.1±3.9 years. Regarding physical activity, 30.4% engaged in poor, 46.8% in moderate, and 22.8% in good physical activity. The severity of knee OA was reported as extreme in 25.1% of patients, moderate in 49.1%, and absent in 25.7%. Statistical analysis revealed a significant association between physical activity levels and knee OA severity (Pearson Chi-Square = .000), indicating that higher levels of physical activity were associated with lower severity of OA symptoms.
Conclusion: This study supports the notion that engaging in physical activity is associated with a reduced severity of knee osteoarthritis symptoms and suggests that physical activity could be beneficial for managing OA symptoms and improving the quality of life among individuals with knee OA. These findings highlight the importance of promoting physical activity as a key component of knee OA management strategies.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
References
Hafer JF, Kent JA, Boyer KA. Physical activity and age-related biomechanical risk factors for knee osteoarthritis. Gait & posture. 2019;70:24-9.
Chang AH, Song J, Lee J, Chang RW, Semanik PA, Dunlop DD. Proportion and associated factors of meeting the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans in adults with or at risk for knee osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and cartilage. 2020;28(6):774-81.
Soutakbar H, Lamb SE, Silman AJ. The different influence of high levels of physical activity on the incidence of knee OA in overweight and obese men and women-a gender specific analysis. Osteoarthritis and cartilage. 2019;27(10):1430-6.
Zampogna B, Papalia R, Papalia GF, Campi S, Vasta S, Vorini F, et al. The role of physical activity as conservative treatment for hip and knee osteoarthritis in older people: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of clinical medicine. 2020;9(4):1167.
Kraus VB, Sprow K, Powell KE, Buchner D, Bloodgood B, Piercy K, et al. Effects of physical activity in knee and hip osteoarthritis: a systematic umbrella review. Medicine and science in sports and exercise. 2019;51(6):1324.
Makino K, Lee S, Lee S, Bae S, Jung S, Shinkai Y, et al. Daily physical activity and functional disability incidence in community-dwelling older adults with chronic pain: a prospective cohort study. Pain Medicine. 2019;20(9):1702-10.
Burrows NJ, Barry BK, Sturnieks DL, Booth J, Jones MD. The relationship between daily physical activity and pain in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. Pain Medicine. 2020;21(10):2481-95.
Perry TA, Wang X, Gates L, Parsons CM, Sanchez-Santos MT, Garriga C, et al., editors. Occupation and risk of knee osteoarthritis and knee replacement: a longitudinal, multiple-cohort study. Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism; 2020: Elsevier.
Balogun S, Scott D, Cicuttini F, Jones G, Aitken D. Longitudinal study of the relationship between physical activity and knee pain and functional limitation in community-dwelling older adults. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics. 2020;90:104101.
Ibeachu C, Selfe J, Sutton CJ, Dey P. Knee problems are common in young adults and associated with physical activity and not obesity: the findings of a cross-sectional survey in a university cohort. BMC musculoskeletal disorders. 2019;20(1):1-7.
Allen K, Thoma L, Golightly Y. Epidemiology of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis and cartilage. 2022;30(2):184-95.
Zhaoyang R, Martire LM, Darnall BD. Daily pain catastrophizing predicts less physical activity and more sedentary behavior in older adults with osteoarthritis. Pain. 2020;161(11):2603.
Park E, Park H-R, Choi E-S, editors. Barriers to and facilitators of physical activity among Korean female adults with knee osteoarthritis and comorbidity: a qualitative study. Healthcare; 2020: MDPI.
Zhang L, Lin C, Liu Q, Gao J, Hou Y, Lin J. Incidence and related risk factors of radiographic knee osteoarthritis: a population-based longitudinal study in China. Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research. 2021;16(1):1-9.
Zhu Z, Aitken D, Cicuttini F, Jones G, Ding C. Ambulatory activity interacts with common risk factors for osteoarthritis to modify increases in MRI-detected osteophytes. Osteoarthritis and cartilage. 2019;27(4):650-8.
Harris R, Strotmeyer ES, Sharma L, Kwoh CK, Brach JS, Boudreau R, et al. The association between severity of radiographic knee OA and recurrent falls in middle and older aged adults: The Osteoarthritis Initiative. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A. 2023;78(1):97-103.
Aldosari AA, Majadah S, Amer KA, Alamri HH, Althomali RN, Alqahtani RF, et al. The Association Between Physical Activity Level and Severity of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Single Centre Study in Saudi Arabia. Cureus. 2022;14(4).
Peng P, Wu J, Fang W, Tian J, He M, Xiao F, et al. Association between sarcopenia and osteoarthritis among the US adults: a cross-sectional study. Scientific Reports. 2024;14(1):296.
Lo GH, Richard MJ, McAlindon TE, Kriska AM, Price LL, Rockette‐Wagner B, et al. Strength Training Is Associated With Less Knee Osteoarthritis: Data From the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Arthritis & Rheumatology. 2024.
Nemati D. Investigating the relationship between physical activity disparities and health-related quality of life among Black people with knee osteoarthritis. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2023;20.
Huang L, Zhang Y, Li Q. Investigating the causal relationship between physical activity and incident knee osteoarthritis: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study. Scientific Reports. 2024;14(1):1663.