The relationship between alcohol consumption and knee osteoarthritis in Korean population over 50 years-old: Results from Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

There is still debate regarding the pathogenic relationship between alcohol intake and osteoarthritis (OA). This study investigated the association between alcohol consumption and knee OA in a Korean population. Among 8058 subjects who participated in the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2012, a total of 2917 subjects over the age of 50 and taken plain radiography was included in this analysis. Knee OA was classified based on the Kellgren–Lawrence (K–L) grading scale. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of variables for knee OA (K–L grade ≥ 2). There were 1022 subjects with knee OA (29.2%). Subjects with knee OA tended to have lower daily alcohol intake (g/day) than did those without knee OA (10.4 [6.2–14.6] vs. 15.8 [12.8–18.8], P = .04). Similarly, those with knee OA demonstrated less makgeolli intake than did those without knee OA (P = .002). Subjects who consumed >0.6 g/day of beer also demonstrated less knee OA than did those who consumed <0.6 g/day of beer (OR 0.68, 95% CI 0.46–0.99). However, knee OA was not associated with the categories of alcohol consumption amount (g/day), including total daily alcohol intake (g/day), soju daily intake (g/day), and makgeolli daily intake (g/day) (P > .05 of all). Alcohol consumption was negatively associated with prevalence of knee OA in a Korean population. This preliminary observation will need to be confirmed in future studies.