Osteoarthritis in past human populations from Radom (14th-17th and 18th-19th century).

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a widespread skeletal condition in the historical population, but it still raises many methodological and interpretative problems. The present study aimed to examine the osteoarthritic changes (osteophytes, porosity, eburnation) in the skeletal material from Radom (14th-19th century) (Poland), enriching knowledge about osteoarthritis and its prevalence in the past. Additionally, a comparison of OA changes prevalence in two chronological periods (the population from Radom during the 14th-17th century versus the 18th-19th century) was done. In the Late Medieval (14th-17th century) population from Radom, osteoarthritic changes were observed in 22% of individuals (males, 18%; females, 29%) and in the Modern Period Radom (18th-19th century) in 25% individuals (males, 25.7%; females, 26.5%). In both skeletal samples, the greatest number of OA changes was recorded in the hip and elbow. Knee and ankle were the least affected joints. Osteophytes were the most frequently observed type of lesions, while eburnation was the least frequent. Although the higher prevalence of osteoarthritis in the Modern Period in Radom is noted, the differences are not statistically significant. Taking the multifactorial etiology of osteoarthritic changes, and the fact that osteoarthritis, as a single indicator of health, could not tell much about the overall lifestyle of past human populations, one must be caution when drawing unambiguous conclusions according to the simple, linear effect of environmental changes on osteoarthritic changes formation.