Relationship between osteoarthritis of the knee and life-stressing events among Nigerians with knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee is one of the most frequent musculoskeletal disorders that physicians do attend to in healthcare facilities. Knee OA is associated with psychological and medical challenges like depression, life-stressing events and pain. This study was carried out to determine the relationship between knee OA and life-stressing events among adults Nigerians with knee OA. Participants with knee OA were recruited consecutively from selected hospitals in Kano State, Nigeria. Western Ontario Macmaster Universities Index of Osteoarthritis (WOMAC), the Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire and Social Readjustment Rating Scale Questionnaire were administered on the participants to access their pain, somatic complaints and lie-stressing events. Test of normality was carried out using Shapiro Wilk test and showed that the data was not normally distributed. The data was further subjected to descriptive statistics of mean, standard deviation, Spearman Rho and linear regression. A total number of 108 OA of the knee individuals consented and participated in the study of which 62.04% (67) were females while 37.96% (41) were males. The mean WOMAC scores for the whole group was 15.8 (SD=10.6) and there were significant differences in WOMAC score, SES and Somatic perception between male and female. There was positive significant relationship between SRS and emotional function (r=0.331) among male participants. Although, there was no significant association between WOMAC and life stressing events among female participants, but there were positive significant relationships between emotional function and pain (r=0.376), emotional function and stiffness (r=0.328), somatic perception and pain (r=0.286), somatic perception and emotional function (r=0.588) as well as SRS and emotional function (r=0.257). This study shows that there was relationship between somatic perception, life-stressing event and OA of the knee among adult Nigerians with knee osteoarthritis. There were also differences in knee OA, SES and somatic perception between male and female participants.

Keywords: Osteoarthritis, life stressing, somatic, perception, knee