The Prevalence of Chondrocalcinosis in the Elderly and Its Association with Knee Osteoarthritis: the Framingham Study

Chondrocalcinosis and osteoarthritis (OA) both increase in prevalence with age, yet previous studies assessing their association have often been too small to adjust for age and have had biased selection of subjects. We assessed the prevalence of chondrocalcinosis and its link with OA in the Framingham Knee Osteoarthritis Study, a large population based study of the elderly. After controlling for age, we found a modestly increased rate of radiographic OA in those with chondrocalcinosis (relative risk = 1.52 (95% CI 1.22, 1.90). There was a similar link between chondrocalcinosis and severe radiographic OA (relative risk = 1.52). Chondrocalcinosis was positively associated with both symptomatic and asymptomatic radiographic OA. The proportion of radiographic OA potentially attributable to chondrocalcinosis was only 4.4%. Our results confirm that chondrocalcinosis is significantly associated with OA after controlling for age, but they also suggest that chondrocalcinosis and OA increase independently with age.