More than half of Australians who underwent knee replacement for osteoarthritis were obese, which increased the risk of undergoing surgery at a younger age, especially among women.
A study by the University of Queensland Rural Clinical School (UQRCS) compared data from the 2017-18 National Health Survey of the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) with the National Joint Replacement Registry of the Australian Orthopedic Association.
The researchers found that of the 56,217 patients who underwent osteoarthritis (OA) knee replacement, 57.7% were obese.
The UQRCS research director, Associate Professor Srinivas Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan, said the risk of knee replacement for OA was relative to a person’s body mass index (BMI).
Obese women between the ages of 55 and 64 were up to 17.3 times more likely to undergo a knee replacement than their healthy weight counterparts, while obese men in the same age group were up to 5. 8 times more likely.
Obese patients with the highest BMI ratio were also seven years younger on average when they had a knee replacement, compared to normal-weight individuals. “
Srinivas Kondalsamy-Chennakesavan, Associate Professor, Head of Research at UQRCS
About 2.2 million Australians have OA and almost a third of adults are obese, according to ABS.
Dr. Chris Wall, senior researcher and senior professor at UQRCS, said weight loss was an important step in improving the performance of people and the Australian healthcare system.
“Modest weight loss has been found to effectively reduce OA symptoms in the knee, and obese patients who maintained a 10% body weight loss experienced significant improvement in pain and function,” he said. Dr. Wall.
“By 2030, more than 161,000 knee replacements are expected each year.
“Urgent action is needed at the national level to change our focus on reducing obesity or Australia could face a growing burden of knee replacement in the future.”
This study was conducted in collaboration with Professor Richard de Steiger, Professor Christopher Vertullo, Dr. James Stoney, Professor Stephen Graves and Ms. Michelle Lorimer.
Source:
The University of Queensland
Magazine reference:
Wall, CJ, et al. (2022) Obesity is associated with an increased risk of knee replacement in Australia. ANZ Journal of Surgery. doi.org/10.1111/ans.17689.