Assessment of comorbidities in patients with Symptomatic Knee osteoarthritis in Spain: the emartro study

Abstract

August 2015 e113 Assessment of comorbidities in PAtients with symPtomAtic Knee osteoArthritis in sPAin: the emArtro study S. Gimenez Basallote; J. Vergara Martin; J.L. Llisterri Caro; G. Rodriguez Roca; J. Monfort Faure; F.J. de Abajo Iglesias; J. Rios Guillermo; L. Sanchez Bellmunt; M. Herrero Barbero; and J. Verges Milano Centro de Salud Limonar, Malaga, Spain; Centro de Salud Huercal de Almeria, Almeria, Spain; Centro de Salud Ingeniero Joaquin Benlloch, Valencia, Spain; Centro de Salud de la Puebla de Montalban, Toledo, Spain; Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain; Hospital Universitario Principe de Asturias, Madrid, Spain; IDIBAPS, Hospital Clinic Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; and Bioiberica, S.A., Barcelona, Spain Introduction: The primary outcome of the study is to assess the prevalence of comorbidities in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (KOA) patients. Additionally, potential differentiating factors between KOA and non-osteoarthritic subjects will be assessed to detect a possible prognosis effect complementary to osteoarthritis. Here we present the protocol of the study that is being conducted at the moment. Material and Methods: It’s an observational, epidemiologic, multicenter, transversal study comparing comorbidities between subjects with and without KOA. The recruitment will be carried out by 65 investigators from different Spanish’s healthcare centers. 1150 subjects will be enrolled distributed in two groups: 575 KOA subjects selected and 575 sex and age-matched control subjects, without neither knee pain nor osteoarthritis. The results will be analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: This study will provide new information about comorbidities in osteoarthritis which has become the leading cause of disability in the elderly and permanent disability caused by a rheumatic disease (RD) and one of the most frequent reasons for consultation. In other studies, it has been observed that the prevalence of comorbidities was significantly higher in osteoarthritis patients than controls (P < 0.0001) being hypertension, diabetes mellitus, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, stroke and myocardial infarction the most prevalent osteoarthritis comorbidities. The ongoing study is in the follow-up period. Conclusions: Osteoarthritis is the most common RD, affecting 28% of those over 60 years, enduring pain, functional disability, decreased quality of life and causing significant social and economic burden. However, an important proportion of the economical costs of osteoarthritis compared to non-osteoarthritic population is due to an excessive use of sanitary resources which includes not only pharmacological treatment but also image and laboratory tests, management of treatment adverse reactions or rehabilitation and surgical interventions. The knowledge of comorbidities and concomitant medications in KOA patients will provide useful information to manage the disease more effectively and reduce its social and economic burden.