The patients (especially the obese patients) suffering from knee pain, alone or with knee osteoarthritis (OA), have increased mortality considering the variables that change over time, explained the findings from a community-based cohort study published in 'Osteoarthritis and Cartilage'.

R.J. Cleveland et al. aimed to assess the impact of knee OA and/or knee pain on excess mortality. They examined the data from 4,182 participants (African American and Caucasian men and women) aged ≥45 years. The participants completed knee radiographs and questionnaires at baseline and at up to 3 follow-ups to reveal knee OA, knee pain and covariate status. The mortality was determined through 2015. Cox proportional hazards regression with time-varying covariates (TVC) was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). The relation between pain and factors like sex, race and age was also assessed. The median follow-up time was 14.6 years. During this period, 1822 deaths occurred. The baseline knee radiographic osteoarthritis (rOA) was 27.7%, 38.8% at 1st follow-up, 52.6% at 2nd follow-up and 61.9% at the 3rd follow-up. The knee OA with pain and knee pain alone were both concerned with a >15% increase in premature all-cause mortality. In the analysis considering sex, race and age, a connection between knee pain, with or without knee rOA, and all-cause death was established among women, Caucasians, aged ≤65 years, and those with a BMI ≥30, with observed high risks of death varying from 21% and 65%. The study authors noticed similar, somewhat attenuated, results concerning cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths.

According to investigators, 'Effective interventions to reduce knee pain, especially those including weight management and prevention of comorbidities, could help reduce mortality."