Polygenic Risk Score for OA Predicts Risk for Hip, Knee Replacement

WEDNESDAY, May 4, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for advanced knee and hip osteoarthritis are associated with the risk for knee and hip replacements, according to a study published online May 4 in Arthritis & Rheumatology.

Paul Lacaze, Ph.D., from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues calculated PRSs for knee and hip osteoarthritis among 12,093 individuals of European descent aged 70 years and older. PRSs were considered as continuous (per standard deviation [SD]) and categorical (low-risk [0 to 20 percent], medium-risk [21 to 80 percent], and high-risk [81 to 100 percent]) variables; the association between PRS and risk for joint replacement was examined.

Overall, 1,422 and 1,297 patients (11.8 and 10.7 percent) had knee and hip replacements, respectively. The researchers found that PRSs (per SD) were associated with the risk for knee and hip replacements (odds ratios, 1.13 and 1.23, respectively). Compared with low PRSs, participants with high PRSs had an increased risk for knee and hip replacements (odds ratios, 1.44 and 1.88, respectively). Compared with men, women had stronger associations between PRS and hip replacement risk.

“Access to information on genetic risk, prior to the manifestation of clinical symptoms, has the potential to improve compliance with preventive strategies and address risk factors earlier in the disease course,” the authors write. “Genetic risk scores for osteoarthritis therefore have the potential to be incorporated into decision support algorithms earlier in life, to improve targeting of interventions and clinical management.”

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