Body Fat Percentage Linked to Hand Osteoarthritis

Higher fat percentages, fat mass and waist–hip ratios are closely linked to hand osteoarthritis, according to recent study results.

Researchers studied 5,315 participants (median age, 56 years; 53 percentage women; median body mass index [BMI], 29.9 kg/m2) enrolled in the Netherlands Epidemiology of Obesity study. Bioelectrical impedance was used to estimate fat percentage and fat mass (FM), and waist–hip ratio (WHR) also was determined.

Clinicians used abdominal magnetic resonance imaging to determine viseral adipose tissue (VAT, otherwise known as fat) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) in a random subset of 1,721 participants (46 percent women). Researchers used American College of Rheumatology criteria to define hand osteoarthritis (OA).

In the full study population, 7.6 percent of men and 20 percent of women had hand OA, which was associated with fat percentage in men (OR=1.34; 95 percent CI, 1.11-1.61) and women (OR=1.26; 95 percent CI, 1.05-1.51) and FM (men, OR=1.24; 95 percent CI, 1.05-1.47; women, OR=1.22; 95 percent CI, 1.07-1.39). Men had a greater association between WHR and hand OA (OR=1.45; 95 percent CI, 1.13-1.85) compared with women (OR=1.17; 95 percent CI, 1-1.36).

VAT had a greater association with hand OA (OR=1.33; 95 percent CI, 1.01-1.75) among men compared with women (OR=1.1; 95 percent CI, 0.85-1.44) in subgroup analysis. When adjusted for FM, the association for men became greater (OR=1.51; 95 percent CI, 1.13-2.03).

“This study showed that the amount of adipose tissue and its distribution are of importance in hand OA,” the researchers wrote. “Assessment of abdominal distribution of adipose tissue showed an association between VAT and hand OA in men, suggesting involvement of visceral fat in hand OA. More research is necessary to gain more insight into the role of adipose tissue in OA, aiming at abdominal fat distribution and secretion of cytokines in relation to OA.”