Evaluation of the Relationship Between Knee Osteoarthritis and Bone Mass, Muscle Mass and Muscle Function in Postmenopausal Patients

The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between knee osteoarthritis and bone mass, muscle mass and muscle function. 222 postmenopausal women were enrolled in the study. The demographic information and clinical characteristics of the participants were recorded. Participants were assessed for symptomatic radiographic knee osteoarthritis based on the ACR diagnostic criteria and divided into two groups based on the presence of knee osteoarthritis (control group and knee osteoarthritis group). Ultrasonography was performed to measure the medial meniscal extrusion and femoral condyle cartilage thickness in both knees of all participants. Also, muscle mass was assessed by measuring the thickness of the bilateral quadriceps femoris muscles using ultrasound. The sonographic thigh adjustment ratio (STAR) was calculated. Hand grip strength and chair stand test were used for functional evaluation. There were 110 individuals in the knee osteoarthritis group and 112 in the control group. Participants in both the patient and control groups were also examined for the presence of osteoporosis. The demographic characteristics and clinical/imaging findings of the knee osteoarthritis and control groups were compared. The binary logistic regression analysis, which included age, BMI, smoking, education level, diabetes mellitus (DM), hypertension, bone mineral density, quadriceps thickness, STAR and hand grip strength, revealed that BMI, DM, quadriceps thickness and STAR were significant predictors of knee osteoarthritis (p<0.05). When osteoporosis was included in regression analyses osteoporosis was not associated with the knee osteoarthritis. In conclusion, BMI, DM, quadriceps thickness and STAR were determined to have independent associations with knee osteoarthritis (p<0.05), while no association was found between bone mass/osteoporosis and knee osteoarthritis. These findings support the consideration of comorbid conditions such as low muscle mass and DM, identified as risk factors in the development and progression of knee osteoarthritis, as beneficial in disease prevention and accurate treatment planning.