Reachout Orthopedics - Issue 1

OSTEOARTHRITIS INCREASES THE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE: DATA FROM THE OSTEOARTHRITIS INITIATIVE N. Veronese 1,2 , B. Stubbs 3,4 , M. Solmi 2,5 , T.O. Smith 6 , J.-Y. Reginster 7,8 , S. Maggi 1 1  National Research Council, Neuroscience Institute, Aging Branch, Padova, Italy; 2  Institute for clinical Research and Education in Medicine (IREM), Padova, Italy; 3  Physiotherapy Department, South London and Maudsley NHS FoundationTrust, Denmark Hill, London, United Kingdom; 4  Health Service and Population Research Department, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London, De Crespigny Park, London, United Kingdom; 5  Department of Neurosciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy; 6  Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, United Kingdom; 7  Department of Public Health, Epidemiology and Health Economics, University of Liège, CHU of Liège, Quartier Hôpital, Liège, Belgium; 8  Methodology Support Unit in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium. Corresponding author: Nicola Veronese, MD, National Research Council, Neuroscience Institute, Aging Branch, Padova, Italy, Via Giustiniani, 2 - 35128 Padova, Italy, Phone: +39 04982181746 ; Fax: +39 0498211218 ilmannato@gmail.com O ne of the most common causes of years lived with disability are chronic mus- culoskeletal disorders [1]. Osteoarthritis (OA) accounts for a considerable amount of this burden [2], with lower limb OA ranked the 11th highest contributor to global disability [2]. The preva- lence of OA has been estimated as 10% in men and 20% in women over the age of 60 years having OA across the world [3]. Increasing research is showing that OA might increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) for several reasons. First, both OA and CVD share similar risk factors, namely low physical activity, hypertension, depression and obesity [4-6]. Secondly, compared to healthy controls, OA is often characterized by some degree of low-grade inflammation, another potential CVD risk factor [7]. Finally, the modifications of extra- cellular matrix, typical of OA [8], could further increase the risk of CVD [9]. As summarized by a recent meta- analysis including 15 cross-sectional studies and more than 32 million of participants, there is a strong association between OA and CVD [10]. Individuals with OA were almost three times as likely to have heart failure or coronary heart disease compared with matched non-osteoarthritis cohorts [10]. Conversely, the longitudinal studies are still limited and with contrasting results. Three studies [11-13] reported that the presence of OA significantly increased the onset of CVD, while another large cohort study reported no such significant association [14], particularly after adjusting for the presence of Core Concepts 23 Although osteoarthritis (OA) is a common condition in older adults, the role of OA in increasing cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence is still debated. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between OA and the onset of CVD in a large database of American adults.