According to new data presented at the American College of Rheumatology Convergence 2021, patients with subtypes of symptomatic multijoint osteoarthritis with at least symptomatic joint site report reduced physical function.

In order to determine the impact of several literature-based definitions of multijoint osteoarthritis on change in self-reported physical function in a community-based cohort, study authors conducted a study that examined the influence of symptomatic multijoint osteoarthritis on change in physical function after 3.5 years.

“The outcome of interest was the change in scores on the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function Scale, Short Form 10a version 1.0 (PROMIS-PF, PMID 21914216). Data were from participants in the Johnston County OA Project who completed the baseline (T3; 2013-15) and follow-up (T4; 2017-18) visits and had data for both baseline [symptomatic multi-joint osteoarthritis] and PROMIS-PF scores at baseline and follow-up,” wrote the study authors.

The study included 586 participants, 71% women and 36% Black, with a mean age of 70 ± 7 years and mean body mass index (BMI) of 32 ± 7 kg/m2 at baseline.

According to the study findings, the prevalence of symptomatic multijoint osteoarthritis ranged from 1 to 51% based on the definition. The authors found that PROMIS-PF scores declined by about 1 point (mean -1.2 [SD 6.4]) over the 3.5 ± 1 year follow-up, with 53% of individuals experiencing a worsening in score. Lower PROMIS-PF scores were seen overall for those with symptomatic multi-joint osteoarthritis -2, -4, and -7. Further, symptomatic multi-joint osteoarthritis-1, -2, -4 and -5 were similar across sex and race.

Additional findings showed men with symptomatic multijoint osteoarthritis-8 had reductions in PF not seen in women or by race. Finally, symptomatic multijoint osteoarthritis-10 was associated with significantly poorer PF scores in Black participants (3.5-point reduction, P< 0.1 for interaction).

“Specific subtypes of sxMJOA in which at least one joint site is symptomatic are associated with varying decrements in self-reported physical function, beyond simple summing of affected numbers of joints,” concluded the study authors. “In some cases, important differences by sex and race are observed.”

“These findings suggest the importance of MJOA phenotypes, future work will include other physical function measures, both self-reported and performance-based, and longer follow-up times.”

—Julie Gould

Reference:
Nelson A, Alvarez C, Liubov Arbeeva L, et al. Effects of Multi-Joint Osteoarthritis Phenotypes on Self-Reported Physical Function over 3.5 Years: The Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project. Presented at: American College of Rheumatology Convergence 2021; November 5-9, 2021; virtual. Abstract 0222.