medwireNews: Comorbidities are associated with increased burden of disease among patients with primary hand osteoarthritis (OA), researchers report.
In a study of 538 patients from the Hand Osteoarthritis in Secondary Care cohort, the 287 participants with at least one comorbidity had worse scores on health-related quality of life, and hand function, pain, and tender joint count measures, than the 251 without comorbidities.
Patients with any comorbidity present had a 20% increased risk for Australian/Canadian hand OA index scores in the highest 5% of their age and sex category – indicating worse hand function or pain – compared with those without any comorbidities, with a further 20% increased risk with every additional comorbidity, report the researchers in The Journal of Rheumatology.
“Therefore, the role of comorbidities in hand OA should be considered when interpreting disease outcomes and in patient management,” conclude Wendy Damman (Leiden University Medical Centre, the Netherlands) and colleagues.
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