Acheson, R. M., and Collart, A. B. (1975). Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 34, 379-387. New Haven survey of joint diseases. XVII. Relationship between some systemic characteristics and osteoarthrosis in a general population. In a survey of the general population the presence or absence ofosteoarthrosis of the hand was determined radiologically in 685 adults (300 males and 385 females). Of these, 261 (124 males and 137 females), chosen randomly, were given a complete clinical examination of the musculoskeletal system which included x-ray ofjoints elsewhere in the body. Osteoarthrosis (OA) scores for the hand and for all body sites were computed for each subject by summing the number of affected joints. For all subjects social class, height, weight, total serum protein, serum uric acid, haemoglobin, antistreptolysin 0, (ASO), C-reactive protein (CRP), and rheumatoid factor were also measured. Analyses were carried out by simple comparison of means and by calculating multiple regressions and correlations.The results showed the following. (a) The factor most closely associated with OA score is age. (b) Multiple coefficients of correlation between all the factors and OA were consistently higher in women than in men. For instance, for the hand R2 was 0-32 in men and 0 49 in women. All the factors significantly associated with OA contributed to this sex difference. (c) In the hands and in all body sites OA scores were significantly higher in males than females under the age of 34 years, the opposite being true for those over 35, but the differences were not significant. (d) Other factors significantly associated with OA score both in weight-bearing and in nonweight-bearing joints in both sexes were CRP, weight/height ratio, serum uric acid, and ASO. In females such an association was also found with rheumatoid factor. With the possible exception of ASO, relationships between all these factors and OA have been found in at least one other epidemiological study.It is concluded that systemic factors underly the development of degenerative joint disease, and that this systemic component is more important in women than in men.