This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Osteoarthritis incidence reported to be high among US military personnel

Add topic to email alerts

Receive an email when new articles are posted on

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on .

Subscribe

Added to email alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

You've successfully added to your alerts. You will receive an email when new content is published.

Click Here to Manage Email Alerts

Back to Healio

We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com.

Back to Healio

The rate of osteoarthritis among U.S. military populations is significantly higher than that of comparable age groups in the general population, according to an article published in Arthritis & Rheumatism.

The magnitude of the difference in osteoarthritis rates between military service members and the general population was also found to increase with age. Furthermore, the study revealed that black service members had higher osteoarthritis (OA) rates than white military personnel or those in other racial categories.

“Surprisingly, little is known about the [OA] incidence in younger, physically active populations,” study researcher Kenneth Cameron, PhD, ATC, stated in a Wiley-Blackwell press release. “The active duty U.S. military population provides an excellent opportunity to examine the incidence of [OA] in a young and physically active population that is regularly exposed to occupational activities with repetitive joint movements.”

For the study, researchers used the Defense Medical Surveillance System to identify cases of physician-diagnosed OA in U.S. service members between 1999 and 2008. A total of 108,266 cases of OA were identified in the military population, which experienced close to 14 million person-years at risk to the disease during the 10-year study period. The unadjusted incidence rate among all active duty U.S. service members during that time frame, the authors reported, was 7.86 per 1,000 person-years.

Women were found to have a 20% higher rate of OA, and service members who were 40 years of age or older were 19 times more likely to have OA than those 20 years of age or younger. Black military personnel were 15% more likely than white personnel to be diagnosed with OA and 26% more likely than personnel in other racial groups.

Junior and senior enlisted service members, as well as those serving in the U.S. Army, were found to have the highest rates of OA. The authors suggested that military personnel in these groups engage in regular bending of the knees and hip — as well as experience “medium to very heavy physical demands” on a regular basis.

“Further research is needed to determine the incidence of post-traumatic [OA] and to explore the risk factors associated with this condition among military personnel,” Cameron concluded in the press release.

Reference:

• Cameron KL, Hsiao MS, Owens BD, et al. Incidence of physician diagnosed osteoarthritis among active duty United States military service members. Arthritis Rheum. doi: 10.1002/art.30498.

Follow OrthoSuperSite.com on Twitter