A recent study found that nonwhites were less likely to undergo total knee arthroplasty (TKA) than whites, confirming racial differences observed in population-based studies and underscoring the need for interventions to address lower use of TKA among nonwhites with osteoarthritis (OA). Researchers used data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative, a US-based, multicenter, longitudinal study of knee OA. During the study, there were 223 TKAs among 1,915 subjects for an incidence of 1.9%. They found:

• The overall rate was 1.9% in men vs 2.0% in women, and 2.2% in whites vs 1.0% in nonwhites.

• There was a statistically significant interaction between sex and age (stratified at <65 and ≥65 years at the end of follow-up), wherein male sex was associated with decreased risk of TKA for younger participants but not older participants.

• Nonwhite race was associated with a decreased risk of TKA for both younger and older participants.

Citation: Collins JE, Deshpande BR, Katz JN, Losina E. Race- and sex-specific rates and predictors of total knee arthroplasty: Seven-year data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative. [Published online ahead of print June 23, 2016]. Arthritis Care Res. doi:10.1002/acr.22771.