Quality of life in elderly patients with osteoarthrosis concurrent with osteopenic syndrome

Objective: to study the impact of a reduction in bone mineral density (BMD) on quality of life (QL) parameters in patients over 65 years old with different clinical forms of osteoarthrosis (OA). Subjects and methods. One hundred and fifty-five patients over 65 years old with the diagnosis of OA meeting the criteria by R. Altman (1996) were examined. Anthropometric indicators, the duration of the disease, and the degree of functional failure were estimated and joint X-ray study and densitometry were made in all the patients. According to the densitometric findings, the patients were divided into 2 groups. A study group comprised 115 patients with osteopenic syndrome; a control group included 40 subjects with normal BMD. In each group, the investigators identified patients with the major clinical forms of OA (from the most affected joint): gonarthrosis, oligoarthrosis, polyosteoarthrosis. The general (SF-36) and special (WOMAC) questionnaires were used to estimate QL parameters. Results. According to the SF-36 results, reduced BMD in patients with OA deteriorates all QL parameters; this is particularly true for the psychological component of health. The more the number of affected joints is, the worse QL is. The osteopenic syndrome in elderly patients with OA significantly decreases QL by the WOMAC scale that characterizes the degree of joint pain syndrome and functional performance in the patients; its association with the clinical forms of OA has not been traced