Running Does Not Increase Risk of Knee Osteoarthritis, Study Finds

A comprehensive study published in Arthritis Care & Research (Hoboken) offers good news for runners. An analysis from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, examining the data from 2,637 participants, suggests that a history of leisure running does not increase the risk of developing symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA).

Researchers, led by Grace H. Lo, MD, MSc, focused on evaluating the relationship between a history of running and the occurrence of knee pain, radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA), and symptomatic osteoarthritis (SOA). They found that participants with a running history actually exhibited lower odds of knee pain and no increased odds of ROA and SOA, compared to non-runners. Even after adjusting for factors like age, sex, body mass index (BMI), and previous knee injuries, the results remained consistent—running was not associated with a higher prevalence of knee osteoarthritis.

Some key points from the study include:

• Among the participants, 55.8% were female, with a mean age of 64.3 years and a mean BMI of 28.5 kg/m2.
• Almost 30% reported having engaged in running at some point in their lives.
• Data revealed a dose-dependent inverse association between running and knee pain, suggesting that running might, in fact, have a protective effect against knee pain.
• No interaction was found between running and a history of knee injury or BMI, indicating that running does not have a differential association with OA among different BMI groups or injury histories.

The findings are significant as they counter the common belief that running, particularly given the high level of knee loading involved, would contribute to the development of OA. The study suggests that running, due to its cardiovascular benefits and potential for maintaining a lower BMI, may not only be safe for the knees but actually beneficial in preventing the frequent knee pain associated with osteoarthritis.

In conclusion, the study supports the idea that running should not be discouraged out of concern for knee OA. This is particularly relevant for individuals without existing knee OA, as running does not appear detrimental to knee health.

This work was supported by a number of institutions, including Baylor College of Medicine, the Houston VA HSR&D Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety, and resources at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Houston, TX.

For more detail on the study and its methodology, you can access the full text here (link needed for exact study reference).

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