Relationship of Pain, Function and Quality of Life with Disease Grading among Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis

Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) is a global public health problem. The prevalence of KOA is on the rise leading to increased disease burden. Female and older adults have a higher risk of developing KOA. The diagnosis of KOA is usually based on specific clinical signs and symptoms or based on structural changes evident on radiographs. The clinical decision for management in these patients is based on X-ray grading. Recently there is a discussion on concordance between clinical and radiological findings in KAO patients. Therefore, it is necessary to identify a relationship between patient-reported findings and disease grading based on standard radiographs. This cross-sectional study recruited KAO patients from rural and urban parts of Phagwara and Jalandhar, Punjab, India. Participants were identified during medical and physiotherapy camps. Participants were included based on the American College of Rheumatology Criteria (ACR). Demographic characteristics, pain intensity, functional status, and Quality of Life (QOL) were assessed and documented. Disease grading was done based on presenting X-rays using grading proposed by Kellgren and Lawrence. The association between these variables was analyzed using R software and reported. We also predicted disease grading using QOL metrics. 120 Participants’ data were included in the final analysis. Findings suggest an association between demographic (age, height, weight and BMI) variables and disease grading. Pain, functional status, and QOL were found to be associated with disease grading. SF-Physical functioning and SF-General Health QOL metrics significantly predicted disease grading. The study’s findings suggest that disease grading based on X-rays shows an association with the participants’ clinical presentation.