Skip Navigation


Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on July 16, 2009
Rheumatology 2009 48(9):1160-1165; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kep194
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Data
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
48/9/1160    most recent
kep194v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by de Klerk, B. M.
Right arrow Articles by Bierma-Zeinstra, S. M. A.
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by de Klerk, B. M.
Right arrow Articles by Bierma-Zeinstra, S. M. A.
Related Collections
Right arrow Osteoarthritis and Cartilage
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

No clear association between female hormonal aspects and osteoarthritis of the hand, hip and knee: a systematic review

Bianca M. de Klerk1, Dieuwke Schiphof1, Frans P. M. J. Groeneveld1, Bart W. Koes1, Gerjo J. V. M van Osch2,3, Joyce B. J. van Meurs4 and Sita M. A. Bierma-Zeinstra1

1Department of General Practice, 2Department of Orthopaedics, 3Department of Otorhinolaryngology and 4Department of Internal Medicine, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Correspondence to: Bianca M. de Klerk, Department of General Practice, Erasmus MC, University Medical Center Rotterdam, PO Box 2040, 3000 CA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. E-mail: b.deklerk{at}erasmusmc.nl


  Abstract

Objective. Incidence of OA rises steeply in women of age >50 years; the climacteric period for women. The simultaneous occurrence of these events suggests an association between OA and changes in female hormonal aspects. This systematic review studies the assumed association between OA and aspects concerning the fertile period (duration, endogenous hormones, age at menarche/menopause) and the menopause [menopausal status, years since menopause (YSM) and surgical menopause].

Methods. Medline and EMBASE were searched for articles assessing associations between hand/hip/knee OA and female hormonal aspects. Methodological quality was assessed systematically, and results were summarized in a best-evidence synthesis.

Results. Sixteen studies were included in the present study. For most hormonal aspects no association was found. Conflicting evidence was found for an association of age at menarche with Herberden's nodes (HNs) and hand ROA, YSM with knee ROA and ovariectomy with hip OA. An increased risk was seen for low estradiol serum levels in the early follicular phase with incident knee ROA, age at menarche being <=11 years old with total hip replacement, being post-menopausal and YSM with the presence of HN. A protective effect was seen for age at menopause being >=52 years with total knee replacement. Evidence level was limited for all.

Conclusions. The assumed relationship between the female hormonal aspects and OA was not clearly observed in this review. The relationship is perhaps too complex, or other aspects, yet to be determined, play a role in the increased incidence in women aged >50 years.

KEY WORDS: Menopause, Osteoarthritis, Oestrogen, Ovariectomy

Submitted 5 February 2009; revised version accepted 5 June 2009.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.