Logo image
Back
013 - DOES FAT MASS CONTRIBUTE TO KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS RISK BEYOND WEIGHT ITSELF? DATA FROM THE MULTICENTER OSTEOARTHRITIS STUDY
Abstract   Peer reviewed

013 - DOES FAT MASS CONTRIBUTE TO KNEE OSTEOARTHRITIS RISK BEYOND WEIGHT ITSELF? DATA FROM THE MULTICENTER OSTEOARTHRITIS STUDY

Kristine Godziuk, Sarah Tilley, Michael LaValley, Douglas P. Kiel, Michael C. Nevitt, Cora E. Lewis, James Torner and Tuhina Neogi
Osteoarthritis and cartilage, Vol.34(Supplement), pp.S36-S37
04/2026
DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2026.01.026

View Online

Abstract

Purpose (the aim of the study): The degree to which obesity’s association with radiographic knee osteoarthritis (ROA) risk is due to joint load versus fat tissue-related systemic inflammation is unclear. We examined the extent to which fat mass may contribute to the risk of incident ROA beyond body weight alone. Methods: Participants from the Multicenter Osteoarthritis (MOST) Study, a NIH-funded longitudinal cohort, who had DXA-measured body composition and no ROA in ≥1 knee at baseline were included. Incident ROA (defined as KL grade ≥2 or knee replacement) was assessed at the 7th year visit. We created sex-specific weight categories (<70, 70-79.9, 80-89.9, ≥90 kg in females, and <90, 90-99.9, ≥100 kg in males), computed % fat mass quartiles within each category, and then evaluated the relation between quartiles (lowest as referent) to risk of ROA in each weight category using modified Poisson regression. We then scaled and standardized % fat mass within weight categories and combined across all categories into sex-specific quartiles. We used spline regression to assess the overall relationship between relative fat mass and ROA risk in knee-level sex-specific analyses. Results: We included 1611 individuals (60% female, mean age 61.7 years, BMI 29.6 kg/m2) who had at least one knee free of ROA at baseline (2646 knees). Incident ROA developed in 27.6% of knees after 7 years. In females only, risk for ROA increased in those with the highest % fat mass relative to lowest in their weight category (Q4 vs Q1, RR 1.29, 95% CI 1.02, 1.64). Spline analyses identified a J- or U-shaped pattern of % fat mass on incident ROA in females and males (Figure 1), with predicted probabilities only differing by 10-20% across the fat mass percentiles. Conclusions: A higher relative fat mass increased risk of incident ROA beyond risk conferred by body weight only in females. Sex-specific mechanistic insights regarding fat mass versus weight-related loading are needed to better inform ROA prevention efforts.

Details

Metrics

1 Record Views
Logo image