Conserving Muscle Mass Influences OA Outcomes

Low lean mass was associated with worse quality of life and physical function among patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis (OA) and normal body mass index (BMI), according to a recent study.

The cross-sectional study included 358 patients with knee or hip OA involved in the Knee and Hip OsteoArthritis Long-term assessment cohort (mean age 63.4 years, 67% women).
__________________________________________________________________
RELATED CONTENT
Algorithm Could Aid Decision Making By Predicting Osteoarthritis Progression
Knee Osteoarthritis Prevalence May Not Be Explained by BMI, Longevity
Fiber Intake Linked to Osteoarthritis Risk
__________________________________________________________________

At 3-years of follow-up, patients underwent dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), which was used to measure skeletal muscle and fat mass. Fat mass index (FMI) was defined as total fat mass divided by height, low lean mass was defined based on the FNIH Sarcopenia Project recommendations, and appendicular lean mass was adjusted on body mass index (ALM/BMI). In addition, pain and function were assessed using the WOMAC index and quality of life was assessed using SF-36.

Overall, 25.4% of patients had hip OA and 74.6% had knee OA.

In bivariate analysis, low lean mass and ALM/BMI were associated with worse WOMAC scores and quality of life. However, multivariate analysis that adjusted for FMI did not show similar results.

Among patients with normal BMI, low lean mass was associated with greater impairment (high WOMAC scores) and lower quality of life (low SF-36 scores) than body composition. Conversely, low lean mass was not associated with WOMAC and SF-36 scores among patients with obesity.

“For patients with OA and normal BMI, [quality of life] and function were more impaired for those with than without low lean mass,” the researchers concluded. “Conserving muscle mass in people with OA could have functional and antalgic benefits especially for those with normal BMI.”

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Clémence J, Bernard M, Body Verrouil E, Lorraine B, Francis G, Anne-Christine R. composition and clinical symptoms in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis: results from the KHOALA cohort [published online October 18, 2017]. Semin Arthritis Rheum. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.semarthrit.2017.10.012.