Impact of Osteoporosis in Postmenopausal Women With Primary Knee Osteoarthritis

Although knee osteoarthritis (OA) and osteoporosis (OP) are common age-related bone disorders, the association between the two conditions remains indefinable. The aim of the present study is to investigate a possible relationship between the two conditions in post-menopausal women.

A cross-sectional study was conducted at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after obtaining IRB approval. The study included all post-menopausal female patients above 50 years of age, who underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans between January 2019 and July 2021 and have clear radiological data regarding knee OA. For our study, 487 ladies satisfied our inclusion criteria with an age range of 50-94 years (mean 64.67 ±8.4). The severity of knee OA was determined according to the Kellgren and Lawrence (KL) grading system.

The mean age and weight of all patients showed a significant association with knee OA. There was no significant association between bone quality and all parameters of bone mineral density (BMD) and T-score with the presence of knee OA. The mean age, height, weight, and BMI have a significant relationship with OP. Grade 3 of the KL classification system for knee OA is the only grade that showed a significant relationship with the presence of OP. The status of bone quality, BMD, and T-score parameters have no significant relationship with the severity subgrouping of knee OA. The BMD and the T-score of the right femoral neck have a significant correlation with BMI, which is linked to the presence of knee OA.

We didn't find a clear relationship between OP or BMD and the presence of knee OA. However, our findings demonstrated that BMD, T-score of the right femoral neck, and BMI can all be utilized as predictors for the development and progression of knee OA. We recommend considering the many potential confounding variations when describing a relationship between OP and OA.