Knee replacement surgery on the increase among overweight women
Australians having knee replacements due to osteoarthritis are getting younger, particularly if they are obese, new research has revealed.
The research showed that more than half of Australians who underwent knee replacement for osteoarthritis were obese, increasing their risk of having the operation at a younger age, especially among women.
The University of Queensland’s Rural Clinical School compared data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry, finding that of the 56, 217 people who underwent knee replacement for osteoarthritis (OA), 57.7 per cent of them were obese.
“Obese women aged 55–64 years were up to 17.3 times more likely to undergo a knee replacement than their healthy weight counterparts, while obese men in the same age group were up to 5.8 times more likely,” the school’s Associate Professor Srinivas Kondalsamy Chennakesavan said.
“Obese patients with the highest BMI ratio were also seven years younger on average when they had a knee replacement, compared to normal weight individuals.”
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However, the school’s senior lecturer Dr Chris Wall said even a small amount of weight loss could reduce the number of patients having to get their knee replaced.
“By 2030, it’s expected more than 161 thousand knee replacements will be conducted annually,” he said.
“Urgent action is needed at a national level to change our approach towards reducing obesity or Australia may face a growing burden of revision knee replacement in the future.”
