Osteoarthritis of the Hip or Knee Raises Mortality Risk

Excess all-cause mortality was observed in OA patients.


Little is known about causes of death in people with hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA). In this population-based cohort study, investigators assessed all-cause and disease-specific mortality in 1163 patients (age, ?35) with symptomatic, x-ray–confirmed hip or knee OA who were seen in general practices in southwest England.

After median follow-up of 14 years, excess all-cause mortality was observed in patients with OA compared with the general population. Similarly, excess cardiovascular-, cancer-, and dementia-associated mortality was observed in OA patients compared with the general population. Several baseline characteristics of OA patients were associated independently with higher all-cause mortality: advanced age, male sex (hazard ratio, 1.6), diabetes (HR, 2.0), cancer (HR, 2.3), cardiovascular disease (HR, 1.4), and walking disability (HR, 1.5). In fact, mortality rose with increasing severity of walking disability.


Citation(s):

Nüesch E et al. All cause and disease specific mortality in patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis: Population based cohort study. BMJ 2011 Mar 8; 342:d1165.