Osteoarthritis of the hand and osteoporosis.

The relationship between osteoarthritis and osteoporosis of the hand was examined in a random sample of the Jewish population in Jerusalem. It was found that osteoporosis and osteoarthritis of the hand showed differing prevalences, only rarely coexisted, and that there was neither a positive nor a negative correlation between them (p greater than 0.05). This would strengthen the contention that these are two independent and unrelated disease processes.