Prevalence and associated factors of primary elbow osteoarthritis in the Japanese general elderly population: a Japanese cohort survey randomly sampled from a basic resident registry

Kentaro Nakayama; Hiroyuki Kato; Shota Ikegami; Masanori Hayashi; Shun Hashimoto; Noriko Sakai; Jun Takahashi; Hiroshi Taneichi

doi:10.1016/j.jse.2021.07.015

Prevalence and associated factors of primary elbow osteoarthritis in the Japanese general elderly population: a Japanese cohort survey randomly sampled from a basic resident registry

J Shoulder Elbow Surg. 2022 Jan;31(1):123-132. doi: 10.1016/j.jse.2021.07.015. Epub 2021 Aug 25.

Authors

Kentaro Nakayama¹, Hiroyuki Kato², Shota Ikegami², Masanori Hayashi², Shun Hashimoto³, Noriko Sakai⁴, Jun Takahashi², Hiroshi Taneichi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan. Electronic address: kenporo@dokkyomed.ac.jp.
² Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Nagano, Japan.
³ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagano Municipal Hospital, Nagano, Nagano, Japan.
⁴ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, New Life Hospital, Nagano, Japan.
⁵ Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Mibu, Tochigi, Japan.

PMID: 34454037
DOI: 10.1016/j.jse.2021.07.015

Abstract

Background: The epidemiology of primary elbow osteoarthritis (PEOA) remains unknown. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of PEOA in a cross-sectional resident cohort from a municipal registry of a Japanese town.

Methods: A total of 415 residents over 50 years of age were randomly sampled from a Japanese town and were adjusted for age and gender. Those with diseases that could potentially cause a secondary osteoarthritis of the elbow were excluded. The remaining 318 subjects (150 men and 168 women) underwent bidirectional radiography of the elbow. Subjects were diagnosed with PEOA if one of their elbows was Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade 2 or greater. In addition, motion pain and tenderness at the elbow were examined by orthopedic surgeons. Associated factors for the PEOA were statistically analyzed.

Results: The prevalence of PEOA was 25.2% (male, 27.3%; female, 23.2%), and the prevalence of symptomatic PEOA was 0.9%. The age-stratified prevalence of PEOA was as follows: 50-59, 6.2% (male, 5.0%; female, 7.3%); 60-69, 15.4% (male, 17.5%; female, 13.7%); 70-79, 29.5% (male, 35.3%; female, 25.0%); and 80-89, 55.9% (male, 55.6%; female, 56.3%). Age and body mass index were revealed as associated factors that increased the prevalence of PEOA with KL grade 2 or greater. The use of vibrating tools was demonstrated as an independent associated factor that increased the prevalence of PEOA with KL grade 4 in addition to the 2 aforementioned factors.

Conclusions: The prevalence of PEOA in Japanese subjects was 25.2% for those aged 50-89 years with a mean age of 69.2 years, most of which was asymptomatic OA without motion pain or tenderness at the elbow. Age and body mass index increased the prevalence of PEOA with KL grade 2 or greater. The prevalence of PEOA increased with age, but the disease was self-accommodated by most people.

Keywords: Elbow; age; associated factors; cohort study; multivariable analysis; osteoarthritis; prevalence; risk factors.

MeSH terms

Aged
Cross-Sectional Studies
Elbow*
Female
Humans
Japan / epidemiology
Male
Osteoarthritis* / epidemiology
Prevalence
Registries