Significance of clinical parameters and role of clinical scoring systems in predicting severity of primary osteoarthritis knee

Introduction: Primary osteoarthritis knee has been associated with multiple variables reported to affect the disease process in different ways. Age, Sex and BMI are among the few which have been characterized to be etiologically related to the osteoarthritis knee. Various scoring systems have been implicated in depicting the severity such as VAS, WOMAC and Lequesne scoring system. Their role has been studied in different studies.Material and methods: Study was conducted in Deptt. of Orthopedic Surgery, CSMMU, Lucknow between 2006 and 2008. Patients of primary osteoarthritis knee were included in the study. All the variables were analyzed and severity was characterized as per VAS, WOMAC and Lequesne scoring system. Xray was done and radiological staging was done as per Kellgren Lawrence scoring system.Observation and Results: 120 patients were enrolled between 2006 and 2008 out of which 46 (38.3%) were males and rest 61.7% were females. Maximum number of patients were in BMI range of >25 – 71 cases(59.17%). Mean VAS score was 6.8+/.78 with maximum number presenting in 6 rating. Mean WOMAC pain score was 9.2+/-.08 and mean Lequesne pain score was 2.48+/.06. Maximum number of cases presented with a VAS score of >5 118 cases(98.33%). 67.5% of cases presented in KL grade 3 followed by 25.83% in KL grade 2 and rest in grade 4. The ‘p’ values of VAS score, WOMAC score, Lequesne score were found to be 0.6127, 0.0477, 0.6943 respectively. Conclusion: Osteoarthritis Knee is associated significantly with age. Maximum number of patients present in KL grade 3 of the disease and WOMAC scoring system is the best predictor of severity of the disease.