Knee Pain and a Prior Injury Are Associated with Increased Risk of a New Knee Injury: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative

Abstract

Objective.We explored whether knee pain or a history of knee injury were associated with a knee injury in the following 12 months.Methods.We conducted longitudinal knee-based analyses among knees in the Osteoarthritis Initiative. We included both knees of all participants who had at least 1 followup visit with complete data. Our first sets of exposures were knee pain (chronic knee symptoms and severity) at baseline, 12-month, 24-month, and 36-month visits. Another exposure was a history of injury that we defined as a self-reported injury at any time prior to baseline, 12-month, 24-month, or 36-month visit. The outcome was self-reported knee injury during the past year at 12-month, 24-month, 36-month, and 48-month visits. We evaluated the association between ipsilateral and contralateral knee pain or history of injury and a new knee injury within 12 months of the exposure using generalized linear mixed model for repeated binary outcomes.Results.A knee with reported chronic knee symptoms or ipsilateral or contralateral history of an injury was more likely to experience a new knee injury in the following 12 months than a knee without chronic knee symptoms (OR 1.84, 95% CI 1.57–2.16) or prior injury (prior ipsilateral knee injury: OR 1.81, 95% CI 1.56–2.09. Prior contralateral knee injury: OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.23–1.66).Conclusion.Knee pain and a history of injury are associated with new knee injuries. It may be beneficial for individuals with knee pain or a history of injury to participate in injury prevention programs.