Risk of Osteoarthritis is Positively Associated with Vitamin D Status, but Not Bone Mineral Density, in Older Adults in the United States

Abstract

Objective

We examined the risk of osteoarthritis (OA) according to vitamin D status and bone mineral density (BMD) using a cross-sectional nationally representative database.

Methods

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2007 to 2010 were used to assess the relationship between OA and vitamin D status in adults aged ≥40 years (n = 2934). NHANES data from 2005 to 2010 and 2013 to 2014 were analyzed to investigate the association between OA and BMD (n = 5949). Vitamin D status was categorized as serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) <20 ng/mL or ≥20 ng/mL. Bone health was classified according to T-score (normal, osteopenia, or osteoporosis) and BMD tertile. Risk of OA was assessed using logistic regression and adjusted for covariates.

Results

Participants with serum 25OHD <20 ng/mL had a 37% lower risk of OA (95% confidence interval (CI) [0.39–0.99], P = 0.046). When stratified by sex, the odds ratio for OA in men with lower vitamin D status was 0.35 (95% CI [0.15–0.81], P = 0.02). No association was found in women. The risk for OA did not differ according to BMD tertile or T-score classification.

Conclusions

The risk of OA is lower in older men with 25OHD less than 20 ng/mL but not in older women. Bone mineral density is not associated with OA risk in older adults in the United States.

Keywords:

• Vitamin D
• osteoarthritis
• bone mineral density
• NHANES

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning, Republic of Korea (grant number: 2015R1C1A2A01055893) and Chonnam National University (grant number: 2019-0211).