The association between knee osteoarthritis and polycystic ovary syndrome in postmenopausal women: preliminary results

OBJECTIVE: The comorbidity of many risk factors associated with the etiology of osteoarthritis (OA) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is commonly observed. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies in literature on the relationship between PCOS history and knee OA development in postmenopausal women. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 120 postmenopausal women diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis who underwent surgical treatment in our orthopedic clinic and, 80 postmenopausal women who referred to our orthopedic clinic but did not have knee osteoarthritis were randomly included in our study. Body Mass Index (BMI) values, PCOS history and demographic data of the patients in both groups were examined. RESULTS: PCOS was found to be an independent risk factor for OA. PCOS was 2.734 times effective in the development of knee OA, Odd ratio (95% confidence interval) = 2.734 (1.206-6.198) and p-value 0.016. BMI was found to be an independent risk factor for OA. BMI between 25-30 was found to be 2.783 times more effective on knee OA development when compared with BMI<25, Odd Ratio (95% confidence interval) = 2.783 (1.324-5.852) and p-value 0.07. In addition, BMI>30 was found to be 9.237 times more effective on knee OA development when compared with BMI< 25, Odd Ratio (95% confidence interval) = 9.237 (3.992-21.374) and p-value < 0.001. CONCLUSIONS: The history of PCOS was found to be statistically significantly higher in the knee OA group. BMI and PCOS were found to be independent risk factors in the development of knee OA.