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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2022 Feb 1.
Published in final edited form as: Rheum Dis Clin North Am. 2020 Oct 29;47(1):1–20. doi: 10.1016/j.rdc.2020.09.001

Table 1.

Summary of socioeconomic differences in the incidence, prevalence and outcomes of knee OA.

SES Measure Study Author and Year Data Source Country Health Outcome Selected Results
Point estimate (95% CI)
Education Murphy et al 20165 Joco OA US IR per 100 person-years for knee symptoms, rKOA, severe rKOA, sxKOA, severe sxOA Severe rKOA: <high school vs ≥ high school
IR=2.8 (2.3–3.4)
Hannan et al 199241 NHANES-I US Prevalence rKOA, knee pain rKOA: ≤ 8 years vs ≥ 13 years
aOR = 1.53 (1.09–2.23)
knee pain: ≤ 8 years vs ≥ 13 years
aOR = 1.34 (1.09–1.65)
Callahan et al 201044 JoCo OA US Prevalence of rKOA, bilateral rKOA,sxKOA, bilateral sxKOA sxKOA: <12 years vs. ≥ 12 years
aOR = 1.86 (1.20 – 2.87)
Callahan et al 201145 JoCo OA US Prevalence of rKOA, bilateral rKOA, sxKOA, bilateral sxKOA rKOA: <12 years vs. ≥ 12 years
aOR = 1.44 (1.20–1.73)
sxKOA: <12 years vs. ≥ 12 years
aOR = 1.66 (1.34–2.06)
Grotle et al 200842 MSK pain survey Norway Prevalence self-reported KOA self-reported KOA:
≤ 9 years vs. > 12 years
aOR =2.25 (1.43–3.57)
9–12 years vs. >12 years
aOR = 2.32 (1.54–3.50)
Jorgensen et al 201143 Danish National register Denmark Prevalence knee OA by ICD-8 code Highest education vs. vocational/basic school
Knee OA among women:
RR = 0.62 (0.60–0.65)
Knee OA among men:
RR = 0.50 (0.48– 0.53)
Cleveland et al 201346 JoCo OA US WOMAC function, pain, stiffness total in rKOA and sxKOA rKOA and WOMAC function: <12 years vs. ≥ 12 years
aβ = 2.83 (0.38,5.28)
Feldman et al 201591 AViKA TKR cohort US WOMAC pain and function, pain catastrophizing % with high pain (WOMAC >55) among people with knee rOA, adjusted:
Less than college: 32.6% (21.3%, 43.9%)
Some college: 29.9% (19.9%, 40.0%)
College graduate: 21.1% (15.3%, 26.9%)
Kiadaliri et al 201748 Malmӧ OA Study Sweden Knee pain, rKOA, KOOS pain, other symptoms, ADL, QOL, Swedish EQ-5D-3L Education <9 years vs. 10–12 years vs. college
Frequent knee pain: aRII = 0.71 (0.61–0.84)
rKOA: aRII=0.53 (0.29–0.98)
KOOS pain: aRII=0.61 (0.42–0.90)
KOOS ADL: aRII=0.52 (0.36–0.77)
Hawker et al 200247 Mail survey Ontario Canada Need for knee or hip arthroplasty Likelihood for potential need for arthroplasty: <high school vs. ≥ high school aOR = 1.57 (1.17–2.11)
Occupation Callahan et al 201145 JoCo OA US Prevalence of rKOA, bilateral rKOA, sxKOA, bilateral sxKOA For all prevalence knee OA outcomes and non-managerial vs. managerial occupations: no significant independent association beyond educational attainment and community poverty
Cleveland et al 201346 JoCo OA US WOMAC function, pain, stiffness total in rKOA and sxKOA rKOA and WOMAC pain: managerial vs. non-managerial occupation aβ = 0.78 (0.08,1.48)
Kiadaliri et al 201748 Malmӧ OA Study Sweden Knee pain, rKOA, KOOS pain,other symptoms, ADL, QOL, Swedish EQ-5D-3L Occupation: unskilled manual, skilled manual, low-level non-manual, intermediate non-manual, high-level non-manual
Frequent knee pain: aRII = 0.70 (0.60–0.82)
rKOA: aRII = 0.55 (0.31–0.98)
KOOS pain: aRII=0.57 (0.39–0.83)
KOOS ADL: aRII=0.49 (0.34–0.72)
Income Murphy et al 20165 Joco OA US IR per 100 person-years for knee symptoms, rKOA, severe rKOA, sxKOA, severe sxOA Knee symptoms: <$15,000 vs ≥$35,000 IR = 7.4 (6.3–8.7)
Jorgensen et al 201143 Danish National register Denmark Prevalence Knee OA by ICD-8 code ≥150% vs. 75–124% average household income
Knee OA among women:
RR = 0.80 (0.77–0.83)
Knee OA among men:
RR = 0.77 (0.74–0.80)
Reichmann et al 201151 NHANES-III OAI US Health Status – % poor/fair Among people with rKOA:
NHANES-III:
<$20,000 = 46.5% (36.8%, 56.10%)
$50,000+ = 8.3% (1.9%, 14.8%)
OAI:
<$20,000 = 11.3% (7.5%, 15.10%)
$50,000+ = 1.0% (0.0%, 2.3%)
Hawker et al 200247 Mail survey Ontario Canada Need for knee or hip arthroplasty Likelihood of potential need for arthroplasty: ≤$20,000 vs > $40,000
aOR 1.83 (1.24–2.70)
Community Poverty Callahan et al 201145 JoCo OA US Prevalence of rKOA, bilateral rKOA, sxKOA, bilateral sxKOA rKOA: high poverty vs. low poverty
aOR = 1.83 (1.43–2.36)
sxKOA: high poverty vs low poverty
aOR = 1.36 (1.00–1.83)
Cleveland et al 201346 JoCo OA US WOMAC function, pain, stiffness total in rKOA and sxKOA sxKOA and WOMAC pain: high poverty vs. low poverty
aβ = 1.35 (0,06, 2.64)
Area-level SES Feldman et al 201591 AViKA TKR cohort US WOMAC pain and function, pain catastrophizing) % with high pain (WOMAC >55) among people with knee rOA, adjusted
Low area SES: 34.2% (25.3%, 43.1%)
Mid area SES: 26.6% (17.0%, 34.2%)
High area SES: 18.6% (11.8%, 25.5%)
Social Class Peters et al 200550 SASH UK New Zealand Score for knee pain and disability Knee pain and disability:
lowest social class vs highest, adjusted mean difference = 8.3 (−1.8–18.3)
Deprivation Reyes et al 201540 SIDIAP Spain Incidence of knee OA by ICD-10 code Knee OA: Most vs. least deprived area
aIRR = 1.23 (1.19–1.28)

Abbreviations: aβ = adjusted parameter estimate, ADL = activities of daily living, aOR = adjusted odds ratio, aRII= adjusted relative index of inequality, AViKA = Adding Value in Knee Arthroplasty, CI= confidence interval, ICD = International Classification of Diseases, IR= annual incidence rate, IRR = incidence rate ratio, JoCo OA = Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project, KOOS = Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, MSK = musculoskeletal, NHANES = National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, QOL = quality of life, rKOA = radiographic knee osteoarthritis, RR = rate ratio, SASH = Somerset and Avon Survey of Health, SES = socioeconomic status, SIDIAP = System for the Development of Research in Primary Care, sxKOA = symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, UK = United Kingdom, US = United States, WOMAC= Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index