Lower-extremity osteoarthritis and the risk of falls in a community-based longitudinal study of adults with and without osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: Knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) are known risk factors for falls, but whether they together additionally contribute to falls risk is unknown. This study utilizes a biracial cohort of men and women to examine the influence of lower-extremity OA burden on the risk for future falls.
METHODS: A longitudinal analysis was performed using data from 2 time points of a large cohort. The outcome of interest was falls at followup. Covariates included age, sex, race, body mass index, a history of prior falls, symptomatic OA of the hip and/or knee, a history of neurologic or pulmonary diseases, and current use of narcotic medications. Symptomatic OA was defined as patient-reported symptoms and radiographic evidence of OA in the same joint. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine associations between covariates and falls at followup.
RESULTS: The odds of falling increased with an increasing number of lower-extremity symptomatic OA joints: those with 1 joint had 53% higher odds, those with 2 joints had 74% higher odds, and those with 3-4 OA joints had 85% higher odds. When controlling for covariates, patients who had symptomatic knee or hip OA had an increased likelihood of falling (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.39, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 1.02-1.88 and aOR 1.60, 95% CI 1.14-2.24, respectively).
CONCLUSION: This study reveals the risk for falls increases with additional symptomatic OA lower-extremity joints and confirms that symptomatic hip and knee OA are important risk factors for falls.