Impact of osteoarthritis on quality of life in a Hong Kong Chinese population

Objective. To measure the impact of osteoarthritis (OA) on quality of life in the Hong Kong Chinese population. Methods. This was a cross sectional, retrospective, non-random, cohort design stratifying disease severity and presence or absence of joint prostheses. Patients with OA (n = 574; 136 men and 438 women) were recruited from rheumatology, family medicine, orthopedics, and geriatric medicine clinics. They were divided into 2 equal groups based upon disease severity (either American College of Rheumatology functional classes I and II, or III and IV). The 36-item Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) OA Index were used. Results. Patients with severe disease had lower mean scores in all SF-36 domains and higher mean scores in all WOMAC domains, indicating poorer quality of life. Scores in patients who had had arthroplasty were better than those with severe disease only in certain domains: role physical, general health, vitality, and mental health (SF-36); and pain (WOMAC). Women with OA had poorer scores compared to men for bodily pain, general health, and mental health after adjusting for age and disease severity. Low educational attainment was independently associated with poorer scores when disease severity was taken into account. Conclusion: OA has a significant impact on quality of life, only partly ameliorated by arthroplasty, as assessed by the SF-36 and WOMAC in this population.