Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and grip strength of people with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: This was a retrospe...
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the characteristics and grip strength of people with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Methods: This was a retrospective study that analyzed raw data from the first year of the 8th Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2019). The study population was 780 people in total, ranging in age from their teens to their 80s. These were people who had been diagnosed with osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and the presence of arthritis in and grip strength of these subjects were determined using the average value of three measurements. Results: According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, the prevalence of arthritis in Korea was 2.5% in men, 10.7% in women, and 13.1% overall. More women than men had osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, and the number of people with osteoarthritis increased with age. In this study, of those with osteoarthritis, 13.5% were men and 88% were women of those with rheumatoid arthritis, 19.3% were men and 56.3% were women. The number of patients with osteoarthritis increased with age, and rheumatoid arthritis was more common in older people. Subjects with osteoarthritis had lower grip strength than those without the disease, and the older the age at which rheumatoid arthritis was first diagnosed, the lower the grip strength. Conclusion: Grip strength is lower in patients with osteoarthritis than in those without osteoarthritis, and it is possible to estimate the degree to which muscle strength decreases.