Background/Purpose

To estimate the prevalence of knee arthritis and assess the association between knee arthritis and self-reported limitation of activity in Chinese Populations.

Methods

Populations: China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) is a population-based longitudinal survey among Chinese retired populations. Persons age ≥45 years and their spouse were interviewed in 450 randomly selected communities among China during 2011-2012.

Questionnaire and physical examination: The questionnaire and physical examination were used in this survey. Trained health professionals went door to door to administer the survey questionnaires and physical examination. We applied the information of “gender, age, living area, height, weight, self-reported knee pain and diagnosis of arthritis/rheumatism by a physician in the past” for the advanced analysis of knee arthritis prevalence. “Does the respondents have any difficulty in running or jogging about 1 km?/ walking 1 km?/ walking 100 meters?/ getting up from a chair?/ climbing upstairs?/kneeling?” was employed for self-reported limitation assess.

Knee arthritis definition: We defined knee arthritis as “if one reported had knee pain and had a diagnosis of arthritis/rheumatism by a physician in the past”.

Statistical analysis: The prevalence of knee arthritis by population groups was calculated, and the association between knee arthritis and the self-reported limitation of activity was assessed. Logistic regression analysis was used for statistical analysis.

Results

In 17708 participants (men: 47.9% vs women: 52.1%), the overall prevalence of knee arthritis was 9.1%, with women 1.9 times higher than men (95% CI 1.70-2.17, P＜0.01). The prevalence of knee arthritis in the rural areas was approximately twice as much as urban regions in China (95% CI 0.46-0.60, P＜0.01). The current knee arthritis structure of Chinese residents had been separated by a geographic structure (Qinling Mountains-Huaihe River Line) into two clusters: the South and North, and populations in South China had knee arthritis around 1.5 times the number of those in North China (95% CI 1.36-1.73, P＜0.01). Along with the growth of the age and BMI (body mass index), the percentages of knee arthritis climbed gradually (P＜0.01). Considering “running/walking distance, getting up from a chair, climbing upstairs or kneeling”, subjects with knee arthritis had more difficulty in self-reported limitation (P＜0.01).

Conclusion

The prevalence of knee arthritis in China is moderate, with women, populations in the rural area and geographic structure (South China) all the influencing factors of morbidity. It also indicates that growth of age and BMI contributes to the increase of knee arthritis rate and knee arthritis and self-reported limitation of activity demonstrates great association. This study provides a fundamental demographic profile for prevalence of knee arthritis and better to understand the knee arthritis and associated self-reported limitation of activity in Chinese populations.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/the-prevalence-of-knee-arthritis-and-associated-self-reported-limitation-of-activity-in-chinese-populations/