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Review
. 2017 Jun;8(2):130-142.
doi: 10.1016/j.shaw.2017.02.001. Epub 2017 Feb 22.

Occupational Exposure to Knee Loading and the Risk of Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Systematic Review and a Dose-Response Meta-Analysis

Jos Verbeek  1 , Christina Mischke  1 , Rachel Robinson  1 , Sharea Ijaz  1 , Paul Kuijer  2 , Arthur Kievit  3 , Anneli Ojajärvi  1 , Kaisa Neuvonen  1
Affiliations
Review

Occupational Exposure to Knee Loading and the Risk of Osteoarthritis of the Knee: A Systematic Review and a Dose-Response Meta-Analysis

Jos Verbeek et al. Saf Health Work. 2017 Jun.

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis of the knee is considered to be related to knee straining activities at work. The objective of this review is to assess the exposure dose-response relation between kneeling or squatting, lifting, and climbing stairs at work, and knee osteoarthritis.

Methods: We included cohort and case-control studies. For each study that reported enough data, we calculated the odds ratio (OR) per 5,000 hours of cumulative kneeling and per 100,000 kg of cumulative lifting. We pooled these incremental ORs in a random effects meta-analysis.

Results: We included 15 studies (2 cohort and 13 case-control studies) of which nine assessed risks in more than two exposure categories. We considered all but one study at high risk of bias. The incremental OR per 5,000 hours of kneeling was 1.26 (95% confidence interval 1.17-1.35, 5 studies, moderate quality evidence) for a log-linear exposure dose-response model. For lifting, there was no exposure dose-response per 100,000 kg of lifetime lifting (OR 1.00, 95% confidence interval 1.00-1.01). For climbing, an exposure dose-response could not be calculated.

Conclusion: There is moderate quality evidence that longer cumulative exposure to kneeling or squatting at work leads to a higher risk of osteoarthritis of the knee. For other exposure, there was no exposure dose-response or there were insufficient data to establish this. More reliable exposure measurements would increase the quality of the evidence.

Keywords: knee osteoarthritis; kneeling; lifting; occupational disease; squatting.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Forest plot of case control studies of kneeling or squatting (yes/no) and knee osteoarthritis (n = 12); b = both sexes, f = female, m = male. CI, confidence interval; SE, standard error.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Funnel plot of kneeling studies (yes/no) against precision (1/variance). OR, odds ratio; SE, standard error.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Forest plot of odds ratios (ORs) for the risk of knee osteoarthritis due to exposure to incremental units of 5,000 hours of kneeling at work in case–control study arms (n = 8), f = female, m = male. CI, confidence interval; SE, standard error.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Quadratic exposure dose-response function for kneeling or squatting and knee osteoarthritis from meta-regression of case–control studies (n = 8) with 95% confidence limit in gray shades. Unit of exposure is 5,000 hours of kneeling or squatting at work.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Forest plot of odds ratios (ORs) for the risk of knee osteoarthritis due to exposure to incremental units of 100,000 kg lifetime lifting at work in case–control study arms (n = 5). CI, confidence interval; f, female, m, male. SE, standard error.
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