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Is painful knee an independent predictor of mortality in middle-aged women?
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  1. Shu-Guang Gao1,
  2. Chao Zeng1,
  3. Yi-lin Xiong1,
  4. Jie Wei2,3,
  5. Guang-Hua Lei1
  1. 1Department of Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
  2. 2Health Management Center, Xiangya Hospital, Central South, University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
  3. 3Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan Province, China
  1. Correspondence to Professor Guang-Hua Lei, Department of Orthopaedics, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Xiangya Road, Changsha, Hunan Province 410008, China; lgh9640{at}sina.cn

https://doi.org/10.1136/annrheumdis-2015-209026

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    We read with deep interest the article by Kluzek et al,1 which examined whether joint pain or radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) of the knee and hand is associated with the all-cause and disease-specific mortality in middle-aged women. The outcome of this prospective community-based Chingford Cohort Study indicated a significantly increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease-specific mortality in women experiencing knee pain with or without ROA, but not in women with ROA alone. It suggests that knee pain, rather than structural changes of osteoarthritis (OA), can be considered as an independent predictor of mortality in middle-aged women. We sincerely appreciate the work performed and the valuable findings obtained by the authors; nevertheless, some issues are worth of further exploration.

    First, knee pain was selected as an important evaluative parameter to predict mortality in middle-aged women in this study, but there were several factors that can cause knee pain. A substantial part of knee pain might be related to the knee joint itself and another source of knee pain might result from other musculoskeletal diseases. The most common cause of knee pain is an injury, which can …

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