Osteoarthritis year in review 2021: epidemiology & therapy

Corp, N.

Abstract

This "Year in review" presents a selection of research themes and individual studies from the clinical osteoarthritis (OA) field (epidemiology and therapy) and includes noteworthy descriptive, analytical-observational, and intervention studies. The electronic database search for the review was conducted in Medline, Embase and medRxiv (15th April 2020 to 1st April 2021). Following study screening, the following OA-related themes emerged: COVID-19; disease burden; occupational risk; prediction models; cartilage loss and pain; stem cell treatments; novel pharmacotherapy trials; therapy for less well researched OA phenotypes; benefits and challenges of Individual Participant Data (IPD) meta-analyses; patient choice-balancing benefits and harms; OA and comorbidity; and inequalities in OA. Headline study findings included: a longitudinal cohort study demonstrating no evidence for a harmful effect of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in terms of COVID-19 related deaths; a Global Burden of Disease study reporting a 102% increase in crude incidence rate of OA in 2017 compared to 1990; a longitudinal study reporting cartilage thickness loss was associated with only a very small degree of worsening in pain over 2 years; an exploratory analysis of a non-OA randomised controlled trial (RCT) finding reduced risk of total joint replacement with an Interleukin -1ß inhibitor (canakinumab); a significant relationship between cumulative disadvantage and clinical outcomes of pain and depression mediated by perceived discrimination in a secondary analysis from a RCT; worsening socioeconomic circumstances were associated with future arthritis diagnosis in an innovative natural experiment (with implications for unique research possibilities arising from the COVID-19 pandemic context).

Citation

Quicke, J. G., Conaghan, P. G., Corp, N., & Peat, G. (2022). Osteoarthritis year in review 2021: epidemiology & therapy. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, 30(2), 196-206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2021.10.003

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 11, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Oct 22, 2021
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: May 30, 2023
• Journal: OSTEOARTHRITIS AND CARTILAGE
• Print ISSN: 1063-4584
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 30
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 196-206
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joca.2021.10.003
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1063458421009341?via%3Dihub