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. 2004 Sep 16;64(5):682–687. doi: 10.1136/ard.2004.023564

Prevalence and pattern of radiographic hand osteoarthritis and association with pain and disability (the Rotterdam study)

S Dahaghin 1, S Bierma-Zeinstra 1, A Ginai 1, H Pols 1, J Hazes 1, B Koes 1
PMCID: PMC1755481  PMID: 15374852

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the prevalence and pattern of radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) of the hand joints and its association with self reported hand pain and disability.

Methods: Baseline data on a population based study (age ⩾55 years) were used (n = 3906). Hand ROA was defined as the presence of Kellgren–Lawrence grade ⩾2 radiological changes in two of three groups of hand joints in each hand. The presence of hand pain during the previous month was defined as hand pain. The health assessment questionnaire was used to measure hand disability.

Results: 67% of the women and 54.8% of the men had ROA in at least one hand joint. DIP joints were affected in 47.3% of participants, thumb base in 35.8%, PIP joints in 18.2%, and MCP joints in 8.2% (right or left hand). ROA of other joint groups (right hand) co-occurred in 56% of DIP involvement, 88% of PIP involvement, 86% of MCP involvement, and 65% of thumb base involvement. Hand pain showed an odds ratio of 1.9 (1.5 to 2.4) with the ROA of the hand (right). Hand disability showed an odds ratio of 1.5 (1.1 to 2.1) with ROA of the hand (right or left).

Conclusions: Hand ROA is common in the elderly, especially in women. Co-occurrence of ROA in different joint groups of the hand is more common than single joint disease. There is a modest to weak association between ROA of the hand and hand pain/disability, varying with the site of involvement.

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Figure 1.

Figure 1

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 Point prevalence of radiographic osteoarthritis (Kellgren–Lawrence radiological grade ⩾2) in the hand joints of men and women (n = 3906).

Figure 2.

Figure 2

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 Age specific point prevalence (%) of osteoarthritis in hand joint groups (right/left).

Figure 3.

Figure 3

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 Rectangle diagram of radiographic osteoarthritis in the hand joint groups (n = 3906). The coloured rectangles represent osteoarthritis (oa) of Kellgren–Lawrence radiological grade ⩾2 in at least one joint of the group (DIP, PIP, MCP, base) in the right hand for men (top panel) and women (bottom panel). Base, first carpometacarpal and trapezioscaphoid joint (thumb base); DIP, distal interphalangeal joint; MCP, metacarpophalangeal joint; PIP, proximal interphalangeal joint.

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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