clinical and radiographic symptoms are strongly associated in males with knee osteoarthritis, but not in females

Background: the degree of patient’s suffering in association with radiological evidence of osteoarthritis (oa) determines the time point of surgery. thus, a more clear understanding of the association between clinical and radiological symptoms of oa is necessary. objectives: here we aim to evaluate how clinical and radiographic symptoms of patients are associated with each other in an ira- nian knee oa population. methods: in a cross - sectional study, patients with knee oa were recruited. the diagnosis of oa was made using the criteria of american college of rheumatology (acr) classification. western ontario & mcmaster universities osteoarthritis index (womac) was used as an indicator of self-reported disability. the kellgren - lawrence index was used for oa grading. results: a total of 96 oa patients, including 77 females and 19 males, with a mean age of 53.27 ± 10 years, were included. the oa was graded as i, ii, iii, and iv in 28, 35, 19, and 14 patients, respectively. the mean womac score was 55.2 ± 20.5, ranging from 6.3 to 100. the womac score was not significantly correlated with the grade of oa (p = 0.1, r = - 0.188). when we stratified the patients based on their gender, a strong correlation was observed between womac scores and oa grade in male patients (p < 0.001, r = - 0.882), while it was still non - significant in female patients (p = 0.9, r = 0.002). conclusions: self - reported disability is associated with radiographic symptoms in male patients with knee oa, but not in females. hence, the orthopedic surgeons should consider this discrepancy in their decision - making process to decide appropriately about the choice of therapy.