The Effect Of Multimorbidity On Functional And Quality Of Life Outcomes In Women With Generalized Osteoarthritis

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) as the most common joint disease is a major public health concern. Aim: To investigate the effect of multimorbidity on functional and quality of life outcomes in women with generalized osteoathritis (hand and knee arthritis, GOA).Method: In this cross-sectional study, patients according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria for OA were invited. The control group consisted of subjects without any musculoskeletal symptoms, osteoarthritis or inflammatory rheumatic disease. Comorbidity count was calculated from the investigated comorbidities. In the GOA group, the function was assessed by Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), Cochin Hand Scale, Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ), while quality of life was measured in both groups with the EuroQol-5D Scale. Interaction between summarized comorbidity count, age, body mass index (BMI) and scores were analysed. Descriptive statistics, two-sample t-test and Pearson's correlation test were used for data analysis.Results: The study groups included 200-200 participants with a similar age spread. Significant correlation was demonstrated in both study groups between higher comorbidity count and older age (0.37, p<0.001, and 0.24, p<0.001 in the GOA and the control group, respectively) and higher BMI (0.18, p: 0.01, and 0.45, p<0.001 in the GOA and the control group, respectively). In GOA, the increasing comorbidity number had a negative effect on the measured outcomes.Conclusions: Age and BMI showed strong correlation with multimorbidity in both groups. The lower correlation between BMI and comorbidity count in the GOA group requires further investigation and may suggest different interactions.