Prevalence of clinical and radiological osteoarthritis in knee, hip, and hand in an urban adult population of Mexico City.

INTRODUCTION: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent articular disease worldwide, and its prevalence is highly variable depending on the classification criteria, population studied, and/or affected joints considered. Reporting epidemiologic data about clinical and radiological OA prevalence in Mexico has not been done before. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with participants of Mexico City, and included both men and women above 40 years of age. All participants were evaluated with radiological and clinical criteria for OA. RESULTS: Two hundred and four individuals participated in the study: 80 men (39.2%) and 124 women (60.8%). The average age was 57.4±10.9 years. Using clinical criteria alone, 36 participants were found to have hand OA (17.6%; 95% CI, 13-23.4), 37 with hip OA (18.1%; 95% CI 13.4-24), and 40 with knee OA (19.6%; 95% CI 14.7-25.6). When radiological criteria were used, 51 individuals were reported as having hand OA (25%; 95% CI 19.5-31), 54 with hip OA (26.5%; 95% CI 20.8-32.9), and 52 with knee OA (25.5%; 95% CI 20-31.8). When clinical criteria were used and then corroborated with radiological criteria, the prevalence was 28 individuals with hand OA (13.7%; 95% CI 9.6-19), 31 with hip OA (15.1%; 95% CI 10.9-20.7), and 36 with knee OA 36 (17.6%; 95% CI 12.2-26.2). DISCUSSION: The prevalences found in this study are greater than those found in other studies in Mexico that only report clinical criteria.