Running not linked to higher prevalence of knee osteoarthritis

A new study published in The Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that running may offer protection from nonspecific knee pain and is not linked to deteriorating patient-reported outcomes (PROs) or radiological indicators of knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the near term.

Running may be preventive against knee osteoarthritis, according to some studies that claim it raises the risk. The goal of this study, which was carried out by Jaydeep Dhillon and colleagues, was to update the systematic evaluation of the literature to ascertain the impact of running on the onset of knee OA.

Searching the Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases to locate studies examining the impact of cumulative running on the onset of knee OA or chondral injury based on imaging and/or patient-reported outcomes was done as a systematic review with level 4 evidence. It was searched for using the phrases "knee AND osteoarthritis AND (run OR running OR runner)." Patients were assessed using plain radiography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and PROs (Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score, Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index, and presence of knee pain).

The key findings of this study were:

1. The inclusion criteria were satisfied by seventeen studies (6 level 2, 9 level 3, and 2 level 4), which included 7194 runners and 6947 non runners.

2. The mean follow-up period for runners was 55.8 months, compared to 99.7 months for non runners.

3. Among the group of runners, the mean age was 56.2 years, whereas among the non runners, it was 61.6 years.

4. There were 58.5% more males overall. The non runner group had a considerably greater incidence of knee discomfort.

5. Numerous studies found no significant differences in the prevalence of radiographic knee OA or cartilage thickness on MRI between runners and non runners, despite one finding that the runner group had a significantly higher prevalence of osteophytes in the tibiofemoral (TF) and patellofemoral (PF) joints.

There is no proof that knee discomfort, OA, or the requirement for complete knee replacement at some point in life are more common. In fact, there is some data that suggests runners have a decreased chance of developing generalized knee discomfort than do non-runners.

Reference:

Dhillon, J., Kraeutler, M. J., Belk, J. W., Scillia, A. J., McCarty, E. C., Ansah-Twum, J. K., & McCulloch, P. C. (2023). Effects of Running on the Development of Knee Osteoarthritis: An Updated Systematic Review at Short-Term Follow-up. In Orthopaedic Journal of Sports Medicine (Vol. 11, Issue 3, p. 232596712311529). SAGE Publications. https://doi.org/10.1177/23259671231152900