Obesity and being overweight lead to arthritis

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Rheumawire

Feb 3, 2004

Obesity and being overweight lead to arthritis

Ottawa, ON - Being obese increases the odds of being diagnosed with

arthritis by 60%, according to a prospective study published in the

January 2004 issue of Statistics Canada's Health Reports [1]. For women,

being overweight rather than having an acceptable weight increases the

risk of arthritis by 30%, while the pattern for men is similar but not

significant.

The data " support the hypothesis that obesity and overweight lead to

arthritis (rather than the reverse), possibly by increasing stress on

the joints, " writes researcher Wilkins (Health Statistics

Division at Statistics Canada, Ottawa, ON).

The study covers the 1994-1995 and 2000-2001 periods and is based on the

Canadian Community Health Survey. The aims were to estimate the

prevalence and incidence rates of arthritis in the Canadian household

population aged 40 years or more and to quantify the contribution of

overweight and obesity in the risk of developing arthritis. Arthritis

status was based on responder reports and physician diagnosis, and body

mass index (BMI) was calculated from self-reported weight and height

measurements. A BMI of less than 25 was considered to be an acceptable

weight, with BMI from 25 to 29.9 classed as overweight and BMI of 30 or

more as obese.

There was a clear association between excess body weight and the

incidence of arthritis. In both sexes, the incidence was significantly

higher in obese people compared with those having an acceptable weight

(39 vs 28 cases per 1000 person-years in men; 63 vs 41 in women). Being

overweight was also associated with developing arthritis, but the

association was statistically significant only in women (55 vs 41).

These results were independent of other influences, including age,

household income, daily lifting, physician visits, and psychological

distress .

The higher rates of arthritis found in women in this analysis are not

linked to a higher prevalence of obesity, as suggested in previous US

studies; in Canada, obesity and being overweight is more prevalent among

men, the author comments.

Being overweight is a strong risk factor for the subsequent development

of arthritis, but the author also outlines other important influences,

such as the following:

Gender. The analysis shows that arthritis is more common among

women, with 31% of women and 19% of men aged 40 or older reporting that

they have been diagnosed with arthritis.

Age. The prevalence rises with the each additional year of age

was associated with a 4% increase in odds. Among the population aged 80

years or more, arthritis affects 57% of women and 40% of men.

Income. Low income was associated with the subsequent diagnosis of

arthritis in women, but not in men. Women living in households in the

lowest income category had odds of developing arthritis that were 60%

higher than those for women in the highest income category over a 6-year

period.

Stress. Tying in with the findings of previous studies, these data

support the idea of an influence of stress on the development of

arthritis. The respondent-reported incident arthritis was significantly

related to psychological distress for both sexes (each 1-point increase

in the 24-point scale used to measure psychological distress raised the

odds of being diagnosed with arthritis by 8% in men and by 3% in women).

Certain factors such as being a female cannot be altered to prevent

arthritis; however, " excess weight is an important modifiable risk

factor for arthritis, " says Wilkins. " A better understanding of the role

of currently recognized modifiable risk factors the most important of

which is obesity offers the best potential for arthritis prevention, "

she

concludes.

Veronique Duqueroy

Sources

1. Wilkins K. Incident arthritis in relation to excess weight. Health

Rep 2004; 15:39-49.

2. Sheilds M. Stress, health and benefit of social support. Health Rep

2004; 15:9-38.

I'll tell you where to go!

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

http://www.mayoclinic.org/rochester

s Hopkins Medicine

http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org