Knee osteoarthritis in Al-Qaseem, Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of clinical osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee in Al-Qaseem, a central province in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

METHODS: A house to house survey of randomly selected inhabitants of Al-Qaseem, KSA was conducted. A total of 10,406 persons were interviewed of whom 5,894 were above the age of 16 years. The study was carried out at King Khalid University Hospital and College of Medicine, Riyadh, KSA, from September 1993 to February 1995. They were questioned regarding musculoskeletal complaints, and those positively identified were interviewed further by a team of trained medical staff and later examined by trained doctors including rheumatologists.

RESULTS: We found 766 (13%) cases of clinical OA of the knee in the 5,894 adult population (13%). The prevalence of OA increased with increasing age reaching 30.8% in those aged 46-55 years and 60.6% in the age group 66-75 years. The odds ratio (OR) for the association between clinical OA of the knee and age adjusted for sex and body mass index (BMI) was 1.0894 (95% CI, 1.08-1.09). The association of clinical OA of the knee with female sex was also significant [OR (adjused for age and BMI) was 1.261 (95% CI, 1.0456-1.5208)].

CONCLUSION: Clinical OA of the knee is common in this community, particularly in the older age groups.