Objectives: To investigate the prevalence and pattern of osteoarthritis (OA) of the hand joints in patients presenting with hand symptoms and also to find out whether knee osteoarthritis has an association with hand osteoarthritis.

Methods: This study included patients who presented with hand symptoms of arthritis in Pain clinic and Medicine out-patient department of Uttar Pradesh University of Medical Sciences, Saifai, Etawah. We also looked for hand symptoms in those patients who were established cases of knee OA.

Hand osteoarthritis was diagnosed using European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) Recommend-ations which includes plain radiograph of hand and clinical examination. For supporting the diagnosis we did routine blood tests. For studying the pattern of hand osteoarthritis other relevant data including age, sex, occupation, handedness and body mass index (BMI) were sought for.

Results: Hand OA is a heterogeneous, age- and gender-dependent disorder, occurring more frequently in women over 50 years of age. Of the total patients (n=200) investigated 29% of the patients had hand symptoms. Of all patients only 20% were confirmed as cases of hand OA by EULAR criteria. 33% of the knee OA patients also had hand OA irrespective of their hand symptoms. A history of heavy manual labour or a repetitive use of the hand was shown to have higher incidence. Other variables such as BMI and handedness may also play a role.

Conclusions: Elderly age, female sex, high BMI and increasing usage of hand showed an increased development of hand OA. The presence of knee OA at baseline may predict an increased risk of hand OA.

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Dr Manish Gupta

Assistant Professor, Dept. of General Medicine,

UPUMS, Saifai, Etawah