Abstract
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a considerable health problem worldwide. It is known to be associated with certain occupational risk factors. We examined the prevalence rate of OA by occupational cluster. Data were collected from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (2010–2013). The total number of unweighted sample size was 9,905 participants: 4,460 men and 5,445 women, and OA prevalence was 5.3% and 18.4% respectively. OA patients were defined as participants with knee/hip joint pain and radiographic change of knee/hip joint. Occupational type was classified as either white, pink, blue, or green collar based on the occupational characteristics following physical demand: white for manager and professionals; pink for clerks and service/sales workers; blue for craft/trade workers, machine operators and assemblers, and elementary manual workers; and green for agricultural/fishery workers. We calculated the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) for the odds of a participant’s having OA according to the occupational cluster, with gender stratification. The multiple logistic regression model showed that, compared to the white collar group, the ORs of the pink, blue, and green collar workers were 1.23 (95% CI 0.64–2.36), 1.85 (95% CI 1.18–2.88), and 2.91 (95% CI 1.86–4.54), respectively, in males, and 2.53 (95% CI 1.71–3.73), 2.86 (95% CI 1.94–4.21), and 3.90 (95% CI 2.60–5.83), respectively in females. The prevalence rate of OA was associated with the occupational cluster, in order from highest to lowest: green, blue, pink, and white collar.
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a structural and functional degenerative joint disease involving the cartilage and the surrounding tissue [1]
Our study showed that the green-collar group showed the highest prevalence rate of OA, followed by the blue-collar group, and the pink-collar group
[odds ratios (ORs) = odds ratio; 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) = 95% confidence interval]. a Adjusted for age and body mass index. b Adjusted for age, alcohol intake, smoking, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and income level. c P for trend of OA incidence according to occupation cluster < 0.001 in both male and female crude, model I, and model II
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a structural and functional degenerative joint disease involving the cartilage and the surrounding tissue [1]. OA is the most common joint disease in the world, with a prevalence of 10–15% of adults, and causes chronic pain and disability [2,3]. In a study in PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0170229. OA prevalence was 3.3% in males and 16.0% in females aged 50 years and older [4]. Because the average life span is gradually increasing, OA is likely to increase with the size of the aged population. OA has considerable effects on social life and quality of life. OA has become an especially conspicuous problem in the recent era, in which people tend to actively work into old age
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