Background/Purpose

To describe the characteristics of participants who reported feelings of discrimination among a cohort of participants with radiographic osteoarthritis (rOA) of the knee and/or hip in the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project (JoCo).

Methods

A cross-sectional analysis was carried out on 766 individuals with rOA who were assessed in the second follow-up evaluation (2006-2010) of JoCo. rOA was defined as Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥ 2 in at least one knee or one hip. Any perceived discrimination was assessed using a validated measure asking “how often have you been treated with less courtesy or less respect than other people?” Responses were assessed on a likert scale ranging from 1 to 4 (1=never, 2=occasionally, 3=frequently, 4=always). If indicating any discrimination, follow-up questions asked for the more specific reasons for discrimination such as gender, age, race, disability, education, religion and body size (yes or no). Descriptive characteristics were assessed and Chi-square statistics were performed to examine whether a participant perceived any type of discrimination, and if so, the specific reason for the discrimination. Additionally, we assessed discrimination according to whether an individual had knee or hip rOA, and according to demographic characteristics.

Results

Participants were on average 68 years old, mostly women (67.7%), African American (30.5%), and had a mean BMI of 31.5. There were 520 participants with knee rOA and 473 with hip rOA. Thirty-nine percent of participants reported feeling discrimination at least occasionally (36.7% occasionally, 2.5% frequently, 0.3% always). The most commonly reported reason for perceived discrimination was disability (20.5%) followed by age (10.9%) and race (10.6%). Those with hip rOA reported any discrimination more often than those with knee rOA (40.6% vs. 36.5%) (Table 1.). Any perceived discrimination tended to be reported more often among those who were male and younger than age 67 and lived in areas with less poverty. Age discrimination was reported more often among those who lived in higher poverty areas (p<0.01) while those who reported discrimination for religion lived in lower poverty areas (p=0.01). African Americans reported discrimination for skin color more often than whites (p<0.01) and racial discrimination was reported more frequently among men (p<0.01).

Conclusion

Perceived discrimination is frequently reported in people with knee and/or hip rOA in this racially diverse population in North Carolina, with disability being the most commonly reported reason. Discrimination is also associated with several demographic characteristics that could have an important impact on rOA outcomes.

ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/perceived-discrimination-in-individuals-with-radiographic-knee-and-hip-osteoarthritis/