Increased risk of stroke in patients with osteoarthritis: a population-based cohort study

Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA) is related to carotid atherosclerosis. Few studies have investigated the incidence of cerebrovascular diseases in patients with OA. Therefore, we conducted a population-based cohort study to determine the incidence and risk of stroke in patients with OA. Methods: We used data from Taiwan's Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000 (LHID2000) to investigate the incidence of stroke in 43,635 patients with OA newly diagnosed between 2002 and 2003. The non-osteoarthritis (non-OA) cohort comprised 43,635 people from the general population. The follow-up period was from the index date of OA to the date of censoring date or stroke diagnosis, or to the end of 2010. Results: The overall incidence of stroke was 36% higher in the OA cohort than in the non-OA cohort, with an adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of 1.10 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06-1.14) after adjustment for covariates. Men, age, comorbidity, non-selective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and Cox-2 selective NSAIDs are independent risk factors of stroke. The OA adults with mild to moderate OA (aHR = 1.97, 95% CI = 1.70e2.28 for young adults; aHR = 1.33, 95% CI = 1.25e1.42 for middle-aged adults; aHR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.12e1.21 for older adults) and severe OA (aHR = 3.78, 95% CI = 2.50e5.70 for young adults; aHR = 1.34, 95% CI = 1.16e1.56 for middle-aged adults; and aHR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.92e1.10 for older adults) exhibited increased risks of stroke compared with their counterparts without OA. Conclusion: OA may be associated with a slightly increased risk of stroke. (C) 2017 Osteoarthritis Research Society International. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.