The rapidly increasing old population leads to the increase of their chronic diseases, which raises diverse hygienic problems. Among them, osteoarthritis is a typical disease that cannot be cured completely, and therefore, that may well be neglected ...
The rapidly increasing old population leads to the increase of their chronic diseases, which raises diverse hygienic problems. Among them, osteoarthritis is a typical disease that cannot be cured completely, and therefore, that may well be neglected in both terms of treatment and prevention. Many preceding studies have been held on osteoarthritis, but their samples were too diversified to focus on the elderly, much less focused on the elderly people's life and characteristics. This study reviewed the data from the 2014 national survey results of living conditions and welfare needs of Korean elderly, analyzed the factors related to osteoarthritis. Among those 10,451 people aged 65 or older, this study sampled 10,256 elderly. The socio-demographic factors, health behavioral factors and disease characteristics were reviewed to study the factors related to osteoarthritis. The collected data were processed using the SAS Version 9.4. Analysis were conducted for descriptive analysis, Rao-scott chi-square, and Multivariable logistic regression reflecting the characteristics of the survey. As a result of the Multivariable logistic regression with demographic variables, health behaviors and disease characteristics controlled, it was found, in case of the male subjects, that the odds ratio of under elementary school graduates (their counterparts were college graduates) was 1.72(95% CI=1.09-2.72), and that the odds ratio of the lower-income subjects (their counterparts were high-income subjects) was 1.40(95% CI=1.02-1.94), and that the odds ratio of those subjects engaged in a simple labor (their counterparts were those who not worked in there lifetime) was 3.81(95% CI=1.03-14.17).
On the other hand, in case of female subjects, it was found that the odds ratio of the elementary school graduates was 2.38(95% CI=1.24-4.56), and that the odds ratio of those having a religion of buddhism (their counterparts were those having no religion) was 1.20(95% CI=1.01-1.42), and that the odds ratio of those engaged in a simple labor was 1.51(95% CI=1.18-1.93), and that the odds ratio of those who had only a single relative (their counterparts were those having many relatives) was 1.27(95% CI=1.00-1.61), and that the odds ratio of those who had three or more friends (their counterparts were those with no friend) was 1.31(95% CI=1.07-1.60). Both male and female subjects showed similar results in terms of health behavior and disease characteristics. In case of female subjects, it was found that the odds ratio of the obese subjects (their counterparts were those who had a normal body mass index) was 1.66(95% CI=1.41-1.95), and that the odds ratio of those who perceived their health conditions were bad (their counterparts were those who perceived their health conditions were good) was 3.09(95% CI=2.55-3.74), and that the odds ratio of those whose muscle conditions were bad (their counterparts were those whose muscle conditions were normal) was 1.43(95% CI=1.21-1.69), and that the odds ratio of those who had other musculoskeletal diseases (their counterparts were those who had no such diseases) was 2.29(95% CI=2.00-2.63), and that the odds ratio of those who had some Neurologic disease (their counterparts were those who had no such diseases) was 1.47(95% CI=1.20-1.80).
This study may well be significant in that it used the raw data from a census of Korean elderly population, analysed with weighted values, which represents the elderly population aged 65 or older. Lastly, it is hoped that this study will provide some useful basic data for prevention and treatment of osteoarthritis as well as the health policy-making and improvement of elderly life quality.