J Korean Acad Fam Med.  2004 May;25(5):381-387.

Health Related Quality of Life and Factors Associated with Lower Limb Function in Patients with Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Family Medicine, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Korea.
  • 2Department of Family Medicine, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability, particularly in the elderly. The factors determining disability remain unclear and have not been defined in Korea. The aim of this study was to assess the various aspects of the quality of life, and to define the determinant factors of disability in patients with knee OA.
METHODS
The Korean version of AIMS2 (K-AIMS2) and CMCHS (Catholic Medical Center Health Survey) were administered to a cohort of 239 outpatients with symptomatic OA of the knee who attended 7 participating University Hospitals in Seoul, Ilsan and Taejon. The scores of K-AIMS2 12 subscales by demographic variables and body mass index were compared using Student t-test. And the determinant factors of the lower extremity disability were analysed by stepwise multiple regression method.
RESULTS
The study subjects (n=239) were 61.6+/-9.1 years old, comprised of 197 (82.4%) females and 42 (17.6%) males, had been sick with knee osteoarthritis for 6.2+/-6.5 years, and had 24.7+/-3.1 kg/m2 BMI. Among K-AIMS2 12 subscales 'Walking and bending' (5.82+/-2.17), 'Arthritis pain' (5.19+/-1.98), 'Social activities' (3.97+/-2.04), and 'Mobility level' (3.61+/-1.74) showed high scores, while subscales related with upper extremities function showed low scores, reflecting the costruct validity of K-AIMS2 in patients with symptomatic knee OA. After adjustment for the presence of sociodemographic variables, we found bodily pain (P<0.001), age (P<0.001), emotional function (P=0.033), and education level (P=0.099) as determinant factors of K-AIMS2 lower limb function.
CONCLUSION
IIt is recommendable that the knee OA patients should be treated properly in the emotional aspect as well as the bodily pain aspect. In addition, it is suggested that education level be considered as an important factor when teaching the OA patients about coping with knee disabilities.

Keyword

quality of life; osteoarthritis; disability; AIMS2

MeSH Terms

Aged
Body Mass Index
Cohort Studies
Daejeon
Education
Female
Hospitals, University
Humans
Knee
Korea
Lower Extremity*
Male
Osteoarthritis
Osteoarthritis, Knee*
Outpatients
Quality of Life*
Seoul
Upper Extremity
Surveys and Questionnaires
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