Is Chronic Kidney Disease Associated with Osteoarthritis? The United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2020

Objective: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and osteoarthritis (OA) represent two frequently seen disorders among the general population, and they share several similar risk factors. The present work focused on assessing the relation of CKD with OA.

Methods: This cohort study included 26,280 eligible participants aged ≥ 20 years who had valid data on CKD and OA from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011-2020. The association between CKD and OA was studied by logistic regression, adjusting for demographics, body mass index (BMI), socioeconomic factors, physical activity, ever smoking, alcohol using, diabetes status and hypertension status.

Results: Among the participants of this study, 26.69% of OA patients had concurrent CKD, whereas this proportion was only 13.83% among non-OA patients.CKD was related to OA[OR:2.269 (95%CI:2.266-2.271), p < 0.01] and the relation was of significance [OR:1.031 (95%CI:1.030-1.033),p < 0.01] following adjustments. In subgroup analyses based on age, the relation between osteoarthritis and chronic kidney disease remained significant, and in the subgroup analyses based on gender the previously mentioned relation between OA and CKD showed opposite directions in men [OR:0.869(95%CI0.867-0.871), p < 0.01] and women [OR:1.178(95%CI1.177-1.180), p < 0.01].

Conclusions: In the present 10-year large-scale national-wide survey, OA is closely related to CKD, and women with OA showed a higher risk of developing CKD compared to men. This study suggests that the relationship between OA and CKD deserves further investigation, and we suggest that patients with OA need to pay extra attention to their own kidney health.