Self-Reported Weather Sensitivity is Associated with Clinical Symptoms and Structural Abnormalities in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Cross-Sectional Study

INTRODUCTION: Patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA) often complain about clinical symptoms affected by weather-related factors. The purpose of the present study was to use cross-sectional analysis to determine whether weather sensitivity was associated with clinical symptoms, as well as structure abnormalities, in KOA patients. METHODS: Data from 80 participants were obtained from the Feng Hans Shi Effects on OA (FHS) study, an OA cohort study initiated in China in 2015. The weather sensitivity of each participant was determined by a self-reported questionnaire. The following measurements were used to assess clinical outcomes: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) for symptoms, and semi-quantitative Whole-Organ Magnetic Resonance Imaging Score (WORMS) for cartilage defects and marrow abnormalities of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Chi-square with Cochran–Armitage test for trend and regression analysis were used to evaluate the associations between weather sensitivity and WOMAC and WORMS of KOA patients. RESULTS: Most of the KOA participants (57.5%) perceived the weather as affecting their knee-joint clinical symptoms. After adjusting for age, gender, and body mass index (BMI), weather sensitivity was not only associated with knee pain [OR = 3.3 (95% CI 1.1, 9.9), P = 0.032], dysfunction [OR = 5.5 (95% CI 1.8, 16.8), P = 0.003], and overall clinical symptoms [OR = 3.3 (95% CI 1.1, 10.2), P = 0.034], but also associated with cartilage defect [OR = 3.1 (95% CI 1.1, 8.5), P = 0.027] and marrow abnormality [OR = 3.0 (95% CI 1.1, 8.1), P = 0.029]. CONCLUSIONS: In KOA patients, weather sensitivity was associated with clinical symptoms and structural abnormalities. Future longitudinal study is warranted for the causal relationship. INFOGRAPHIC: [Image: see text] SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40744-021-00340-w.