Persistent knee pain is early predictor of structural osteoarthritis

Persistent knee pain is an important predictor of structural joint damage and could potentially be used to predict knee osteoarthritis (OA) earlier, according to Dutch research reported at the World Congress on osteoarthritis.

The analysis found that women participating in the Rotterdam Study who had knee pain on most days of the preceding month were more than four times more likely to develop knee OA within five years of MRI than were those without frequent knee pain.

Other symptoms predictive of later OA on MRI included a history of knee injury, pain on palpation or during activity, the feeling of the knee giving way, joint line tenderness, crepitus, and Heberden’s nodes.

“Signs and symptoms can predict structural knee OA in five years in women without knee OA at baseline,” said the presenting study of Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, at the meeting sponsored by the Osteoarthritis Research Society International.

“Knee pain on most days of the last month is an important predictive symptom for all structural OA definitions,” adding that crepitus was an important sign of patellofemoral OA, and the feeling of giving way and joint line tenderness were important signs for tibiofemoral OA.

The aim of their study was to try to determine the value of previously identified clinical signs and symptoms for determining the onset of structural knee OA.

Approximately 600 women aged 45-60 years without OA at baseline were included from the population-based cohort Rotterdam study. Participants had completed a standard questionnaire and had physical, radiographic, and MRI examination of both knees at baseline and at a mean follow-up of five years later.

The mean age of the women was 59.5 years. Of 1,137 knees, 33 had isolated patellofemoral OA and 69 had isolated tibiofemoral OA, 111 had one or the other, and 22 had radiographic knee OA.

The result showed that knee pain on most days of the last month and crepitus were most predictive of isolated patellofemoral OA on MRI. The prevalence of patellofemoral OA was three percent, but this increased to 20 percent of both these signs and symptoms were present.

Knee pain on most days of the last month was also predictive of isolated tibiofemoral OA on MRI, together with a history of knee pain, knee pain activities, and the feeling of the knee giving was. If two or three or more signs and symptoms were present, the predictive value increased from a prevalence of six percent to 12 percent to 18 percent.

Knee pain on most days of the last month was also highly predictive in radiographic OA, as was pain at palpation, prior injury, and the feeling of the knee giving way. Again when additional signs or symptoms were present, the prevalence increased from three percent at follow-up four percent with one, eight percent with two, and up to 14 percent for three or more.

These signs and symptoms could potentially be used to help identify patients who may benefit from preventive treatment for knee OA.