Radiographic hand osteoarthritis in women farmers: characteristics and risk factors

Abstract

Background Repetitive hand use increases the risk of hand osteoarthritis (OA). This study aimed to investigate characteristics of and risk factors for hand OA in Korean women farmers. Methods This cross-sectional study included women farmers resident in Jeollanam-do, Korea. The participants were interviewed, and radiographs were taken of both hands. Radiological hand OA was defined based on the Osteoarthritis Research Society International imaging criteria of joint space narrowing or the presence of osteophytes. The participants were divided into age groups of < 60 and ≥ 60 years. Obesity was defined as body mass index of > 25 kg/m 2 . Annual working time was divided into < 2,000, 2,000–2,999, and ≥ 3,000 hours. Agricultural working type was divided into rice farming and field farming. Robust Poisson regression was used to identify factors associated with radiographic hand OA, with adjustment for age, obesity, annual working time, and agricultural classification. Results A total of 310 participants with a mean age of 58.1 ± 7.6 years, were enrolled. The prevalence of radiologically confirmed OA was 49.0%, with an OA prevalence of 39.4% the interphalangeal joint in the thumb (IP1). The prevalence of OA was higher in the distal interphalangeal joint than in the proximal interphalangeal, metacarpophalangeal, and carpometacarpal joints. The prevalence of OA varied by age, annual working time, and agriculture type. Conclusions Korean women farmers have a high prevalence of OA, particularly in the IP1 joints. OA is associated with age, working hours, and agriculture type.

Identification of susceptibility modules and hub genes of osteoarthritis by WGCNA analysis

“…Although these are interesting findings, our study still has some limitations and disadvantages that are worth considering. First, OA is a multifactorial disease, and factors such as genetic predisposition, gender, age, and environmental factors may exert an impact on our result (Driban et al, 2020;Allen et al, 2022;Sim et al, 2022). Second, as the number of publicly available datasets was relatively small, more in vivo and animal experiments are needed to confirm the possibilities of our hypothesis.…”

“…With the expanding life expectancy of the aging population, the incidence and prevalence of osteoarthritis also increases (Mandl, 2019;Sacitharan, 2019;Yuan et al, 2020). Though several risk factors associated with osteoarthritis have been well-accepted, including genetic predisposition, gender, age, obesity, and trauma, the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis remains largely unclear (Driban et al, 2020;Allen et al, 2022;Sanchez-Lopez et al, 2022;Sim et al, 2022). Furthermore, numerous studies provide solid evidence that cartilage, subchondral bone, and synovium all play prominent roles in the formation and progression of osteoarthritis (Hu W. et al, 2021;Hu Y. et al, 2021;Allen et al, 2022;Lin et al, 2022;Sanchez-Lopez et al, 2022).…”