Factors that may mediate the relationship between physical activity and the risk for developing knee osteoarthritis.docVIP

Available online /content/10/1/203 Review Factors that may mediate the relationship between physical activity and the risk for developing knee osteoarthritis Donna M Urquhart1, Cathy Soufan1, Andrew J Teichtahl1, Anita E Wluka1,2, Fahad Hanna1 and Flavia M Cicuttini1 1Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road, Melbourne 3004, Australia 2Baker Heart Research Institute, AMREP Centre, Commercial Road, Melbourne, 3004, Australia Corresponding author: Donna Urquhart, Donna.Urquhart@.au Published: 4 February 2008 Arthritis Research Therapy 2008, 10:203 (doi:10.1186/ar2343) This article is online at /content/10/1/203 ? 2008 BioMed Central Ltd Abstract Epidemiological studies that have investigated the effect of physical activity on the knee joint have reported conflicting findings. Although some studies have reported that physical activity is associated with risk for knee OA [7-9], other studies have shown that physical activity may have no effect [10,11] or may even protect the knee joint from degenerative changes [12,13]. These conflicting findings may be a result of individual variation in response to exercise and/or different methodology employed by studies to measure knee structure and physical activity. Studies investigating the effect of physical activity on risk for developing osteoarthritis at weight-bearing joints have reported conflicting results. We examine evidence to suggest that this may be due to the existence of subgroups of individuals who differ in their response to physical activity, as well as methodological issues associated with the assessment of knee joint structure and physical activity. Recommendations for future studies of physical activity and the development of knee osteoarthritis are discussed. Introduction It is widely accepted that participation in physical activity is associat