Muscle, Bone and Fat Characteristics in Mild-to-Moderate Hip Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Hip osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive joint disorder that causes pain and motor dysfunction, which imposes a substantial health burden on the individual and health care system. The clinical end-point for severe hip OA is a total hip replacement. However hip replacement is an invasive and costly medical procedure, so efforts to prolong time to joint replacement through interventions that reduce pain and maximise function are required. A necessary requirement for developing efficacious interventions to manage hip OA is a thorough understanding of the musculoskeletal alterations associated with the disease so that they can be more directly targeted. Research to date has predominantly focused on characterising these deficits in advanced stages of the disease. These prior studies suggest that muscle weakness, altered femoral geometry and increased BMI, total body fat and intramuscular fat content are features of advanced hip OA, which together have the potential to alter the mechanical and metabolic environment of the hip joint. A need therefore existed to better understand the musculoskeletal deficits associated with earlier stages of hip OA, and how they change over time. The general aim of this thesis was therefore to investigate muscle, bone and fat characteristics in individuals with mild-to-moderate hip OA and age-matched controls at baseline and at 12-months follow-up.