X-rays can predict whether middle-aged women will get knee osteoarthritis, according to a new study.
The research, conducted at Oxford University in England, analyzed results of a 15-year program that monitored 1,000 women who had knee x-rays at five-year intervals. The women who had possible, though not definitive, changes at their first x-ray were 4.5 times likelier to develop knee osteoarthritis than those who showed no changes.
Age was also a factor, with women over sixty developing knee osteoarthritis about one third more frequently than women under 50.
The researchers said that the results showed the need for preventive care to stop the development of knee osteoarthritis. Although the incidence of the condition was low in the study (just 2.3 percent of the women surveyed developed it ), the researchers also emphasized the need to deal with it because of the general aging of the population.
