Introduction:

Osteoarthritis is the osteoarticular disease with the highest prevalence worldwide. In industrialized countries, 80% of the population > 65 years suffers from it.

Objectives:

To determine the prevalence of symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee in a random population sample, its associated variables and its impact on pain and functionality.

Methods:

Descriptive and multivariate logistic regression analysis carried out at the Cambre Health Center, A Coruña. A sample of 707 patients was included. Anthropometric variables, comorbidity and clinical examination of the knees were assessed. The validated WOMAC and Lequesne questionnaires were used to assess pain and functionality.

Results:

56.3% of the patients were females, and mean age was 61.75 years. The prevalence of symptomatic osteoarthritis in at least one knee was 29.3%. People with osteoarthritis had higher scores in the pain, stiffness and functional capacity dimensions of the WOMAC questionnaire (30.0 ± 35.7, 33.8 ± 40.5 and 25.4 ± 40.1, respectively) and had higher scores in the Lequesne questionnaire as well (9.0 ± 8.8).

Conclusions:

A high prevalence of people with osteoarthritis has been determined, which is modified with gender, age and body mass index.