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. 2017 Mar 29;356:j1131. doi: 10.1136/bmj.j1131

Table 1.

Characteristics of 4498 participants aged 45-79 from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI). Figures are medians (interquartile range) for continuous variable and numbers (percentage) for categorical variables

Variables High risk cohort
(n=3171)
Knee osteoarthritis cohort (n=1327) P value
Age (years) 61 (53-69) 61 (54-69) 0.77
Age group (years):
 <55 934 (29) 378 (28) 0.76
 55-64 1033 (33) 432 (33)
 >64 1204 (38) 517 (39)
Men 1302 (41) 577 (43) 0.14
Ethnicity:
 White 2626 (83) 942 (71) <0.001
 Black or African-American 466 (15) 344 (26)
 Asian 30 (1) 11 (1)
 Other 45 (1) 30 (2)
 Missing 4 (0) 0 (0)
Annual income level ($):
 <10 000 84 (3) 64 (5) <0.001
 10 000-<25 000 276 (9) 148 (11)
 25 000-<50 000 741(23) 337 (25)
 50 000-<100 000 1111 (35) 407 (31)
 >100 000 740 (23) 259 (20)
 Missing 219 (7) 112 (8)
Education level:
 Less than high school graduate 84 (3) 65 (5) <0.001
 High school graduate 371 (12) 201 (15)
 Some college 719 (23) 363 (27)
 College graduate 686 (22) 256 (20)
 Some graduate school 263 (8) 106 (8)
 Graduate degree 1026 (32) 319 (24)
 Missing 22 (1) 17 (1)
BMI 27.8 (24.6-31.1) 29.7 (26.6-33.4) <0.001
 Missing 1 (0) 3 (0)
Modified Charlson comorbidity index:
 0 2431 (77) 914 (69) <0.001
 1 453 (14) 234 (18)
 2 172 (5) 99 (7)
 3 46 (1) 40 (3)
 ≥4 38 (1) 13 (1)
 Missing 31 (1) 27 (2)
Kellgren-Lawrence grade:
 0 1076 (34) 69 (5) <0.001
 1 579 (18) 90 (7)
 2 923 (29) 408 (31)
 3 393 (12) 481 (36)
 4 81 (3) 211 (16)
 Missing 119 (4) 68 (5)
Self reported diagnosis of osteoarthritis in 12 months before baseline:
 Yes 472 (15) 542 (41) <0.001
 No 2568 (81) 689 (52)
 Missing 131 (4) 96 (7)
Previous knee injury at baseline:
 Yes 1275 (40) 625 (47) <0.001
 No 1878 (59) 687 (52)
 Missing 18 (1) 15 (1)
Previous knee surgery at baseline:
 Yes 549 (17) 450 (34) <0.001
 No 2619 (83) 875 (66)
 Missing 3 (0) 2 (0)
SF-12* score:
 Physical component summary (PCS) 52.8 (46.4-56.1) 46.2 (38.0-52.9) <0.001
 Mental component summary (MCS) 55.3 (50.4-58.3) 55.7 (48.8-59.7) 0.11
 Missing 36 (1) 21 (2)
SF-6D* utility index 0.86 (0.72-0.92) 0.78 (0.66-0.86) <0.001
 Missing 36 (1) 23 (2)
WOMAC* total score 6.1 (1.0-17.0) 24.1 (13.0-39.0) <0.001
 Missing 14 (0) 19 (1)
KOOS* quality of life 75.0 (62.5-87.5) 50.0 (37.5-62.5) <0.001
Missing 1 (0) 0 (0)
Use of pain medication for osteoarthritis:
Yes 1016 (32) 620 (47) <0.001
 No 2154 (68) 706 (53)
 Missing 1 (0) 1 (0)
Use of non-pharmacological treatment:
 Yes 284 (9) 169 (13) <0.001
 No 2883 (91) 1156 (87)
 Missing 4 (0) 2 (0)
Missed work days in last 3 months:
 Yes 64 (3) 69 (8) <0.001
 No 1928 (97) 750 (92)
 No of work days missed if ≥1 2.5 (2.0-5.2) 3.0 (2.0-5.0) 0.5

BMI=body mass index; WOMAC=Western Ontario and McMaster Universities arthritis index; KOOS=knee injury and osteoarthritis outcome score.

*Range of scales: SF-6D, 0-1 scale (higher scores indicate better health); SF-12, 0-100 scale (higher scores indicate less severe symptoms); WOMAC, 0-100 scale (higher scores indicate more severe symptoms); KOOS quality of life, 0-100 scale (higher scores indicate less severe symptoms).

†Measured only in those who reported being employed: n=1992 in high risk cohort and 819 in knee osteoarthritis cohort.