Obesity and Multisite Pain in the Lower Limbs: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.

Background: Although several studies investigated the relationship between obesity, osteoarthritis, and pain, no study examined the association between obesity and multijoint pain in the lower limbs. The purpose of this study was to address this gap. Method: This cross-sectional study was performed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between March and April 2019. In this study, a total of 4,661 adults aged 45-79 years with or at high risk for knee osteoarthritis were included from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. The persons who had an elevated risk of developing symptoms of knee osteoarthritis during the study were defined as high risk for knee osteoarthritis. According to the body mass index, participants were categorized into three groups: normal weight (n = 1,068), overweight (n = 1,832), and obese (n = 1,761). Logistic regression was used to examine the association between obesity and multisite pain. Results: The odds of multisite pain was associated significantly (p < 0.001) by 1.36 times higher with obesity than normal weight, no, or sigle-site pain, even after adjusting for sociodemographic and health variables. Conclusion: Obesity is associated with an increased likelihood of multisite pain in the lower limbs. The results enable clinicians to adopt better standards of practice for the prevention and screening of multisite pain in this community.

Knee pain and health-related quality of life among older patients with different knee osteoarthritis severity in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: There is a lack of knowledge about health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Saudi patients with musculoskeletal impairment, particularly among older adult populations. Thus, the current research aimed to determine the association of knee osteoarthritis (OA) severity with knee pain (KP) and HRQoL among older patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: In a multicenter cross-sectional study, we recruited 209 consecutive males and females aged ≥55 years with radiographically diagnosed knee OA from five hospitals across Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. According to the Kellgren & Lawrence classification, patients were classified into two groups: mild/moderate knee OA (n = 126) and severe knee OA (n = 83). KP and HRQoL were assessed using the pain visual analogue scale (VAS) and the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), respectively. A higher score on the pain VAS and the SF-36 represented worse KP and better HRQoL, respectively. RESULTS: Severe knee OA was significantly associated with an increased score of 3.47 (p <.0001) points on the pain VAS compared with the score reported by patients with mild/moderate knee OA. Additionally, it was significantly associated with reduced scores of 6.83 and 5.82 (both: p <.0001) points on the physical and mental composite summary subscales of the SF-36, respectively, compared with the scores of patients with mild/moderate knee OA, even after adjusting for all covariates. CONCLUSION: Older patients with severe knee OA had significantly worse KP and reduced HRQoL compared to patients with mild/moderate knee conditions, even after controlling for confounders.