Frequency of joint hypermobility in Turkish patients with knee osteoarthritis: a cross sectional multicenter study

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is one of the major causes of joint dysfunction and physically disabling conditions in the older population. The risk factors for the development of knee OA are very diverse. We aimed to determine the frequency of joint hypermobility in patients with knee OA.

Five hundred and three patients (402 female and 101 male) with bilateral knee OA were enrolled in five different clinics from three regions of Turkey. In this study, joint hypermobility was evaluated in the participants by using the Beighton scoring system and a Beighton score of at least 4 was considered as joint hypermobility. Radiological scoring was performed according to Kellgren and Lawrence.

The percentages of generalized joint hypermobility were determined as 21.5% in all of the patients, 23.9% in female patients and 11.9% in male patients. The percentage of hypermobility (67.9%) was found to be highest in patients with knee OA aged between 22-30 years as against other age groups. Highest hypermobility percentage was found as 73.9% (17/23) in female patients and as 40% (2/5) in male patients between 22-30 years. The hypermobility of knee was found to have the highest frequency in patients aged between 22-40 years as compared to other joint regions and also to be second-highest frequency in all patients aged between 41-92 years. As a result, generalized joint hypermobility was determined to be of high frequency in patients with knee OA. Furthermore, we have seen that knee mobility was established to be of considerably high frequency in patients with knee OA.

This study showed generalized joint hypermobility and knee hypermobility may be associated with knee OA. According to the results of this study, we can suggest that generalized joint hypermobility and also knee hypermobility may increase the risk of knee OA. According to this study, it should be considered that knee OA will develop in individuals who have generalized joint hypermobility and these individuals should be educated from this point before OA it occurs.