A new study by researchers in Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS) has identified a link between ankle pain and the onset of symptoms of knee osteoarthritis (OA).
"Foot and ankle symptoms are very common among middle-aged and older adults, and isolated joint pain in OA is uncommon," said Dr Thomas Perry, lead author of the study and Postdoctoral Researcher in molecular pathogenesis of osteoarthritis pain at NDORMS. "Although it has been established that symptoms and/or structural OA in lower extremity joints (e.g., ankle) can affect other kinematically involved joints such as the knee, there is little data describing the relationship between the ankle/foot and incident knee OA outcomes."
Using data from the Multicentre Osteoarthritis Study (MOST), the researchers examined the relationship between three symptoms; ankle pain, foot pain, and ankle and foot pain, and different knee outcomes.