Cross-sectional study on the relationship between Body Mass Index and severity of knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background. Musculoskeletal diseases like osteoarthritis (OA) are widespread. OA affects the knees, makes the joints wear out and hurt, and makes it hard to move around. Body mass index (BMI) is a way to measure obesity, which is linked to a higher chance of getting OA and making it worse. The main aim of this cross-sectional study was to find out how body mass index (BMI) is related to how lousy knee osteoarthritis is. Methods. One hundred people at the Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences in Dehradun met the study’s requirements and were enrolled. The Kellgren-Lawrence grading method was used to find the severity of knee osteoarthritis (OA), and standard measurements were used to calculate body mass index (BMI). A correlation study was done to examine the link between BMI and the severity of OA. Results. The sample included 100 participants on average of 60 years old. The typical knee OA symptoms lasted five years. A body mass index distribution analysis showed 35% obese, 40% overweight, and 25% underweight or average weight. Twenty percent of knee OA patients were mild, 35 percent intermediate, 30 percent severe, and 15 percent progressed. The association investigation revealed a significant positive correlation between BMI and knee osteoarthritis severity (r = 0.65, p < 0.001). Conclusion. Our results show that being overweight can worsen knee OA, proving that people with this problem need to watch their weight. If we treat obesity as a risk factor that can be changed, we might be able to improve the results of OA.