Osteoarthritis‐Related Walking Disability and Arterial Stiffness: Results From a Cross‐Sectional Study

Objective To compare the 6‐minute walking distance (6 MWD ) in a population‐based cohort of patients with osteoarthritis ( OA ) with that in matched peers from the general population, and to explore the associations between walking ability and risk of cardiovascular disease ( CVD ) in the OA cohort. Methods This cross‐sectional study included individuals (ages 40–80 years) who had self‐reported OA (n = 500) in a previous population‐based study and age‐ and sex‐matched peers from the general population (n = 235). Clinical examinations of the patients with OA included classification according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria, blood sampling, and measuring arterial stiffness (PWV; pulse wave velocity). Group differences in the 6 MWD were calculated with t ‐tests. The association between walking ability and CVD risk in the OA cohort was examined using multivariate regression models. Results In the age‐stratified analyses, the largest mean difference in the 6 MWD was observed in the youngest age groups (40–49 years); female patients in the OA group walked 84.6 fewer meters compared with the reference group (579.4 meters and 663.9 meters, respectively; P < 0.001), and male patients walked 88.3 fewer meters compared with the reference group (619.9 meters and 708.3 meters, respectively; P = 0.001). In the OA group, the 6 MWD was significantly associated with PWV in the adjusted analysis ( P = 0.001); an increase in the walking distance of 100 meters corresponded to a reduction in PWV of 0.3 meters/second. Conclusion Even at age 40 years, patients with OA had a significantly shorter mean walking distance compared with their matched peers, underlining the importance of an early clinical approach to OA . Furthermore, in the OA group, the 6 MWD was significantly associated with arterial stiffness, suggesting that walking ability is important for the CVD risk profile in patients with OA .