Childhood abuse may be linked to osteoarthritis
November 3rd, 2009 - 2:16 pm ICT by IANSToronto, Nov 3 (IANS) Adults who have experienced physical abuse as children have a higher chance of suffering from osteoarthritis compared to those who have not been abused, according to a new study.
University of Toronto researchers investigated the relationship between self-reported childhood physical abuse and a diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA).
After analysing representative data from the 2005 Canadian Community Health Survey, the researchers determined a significant association between childhood physical abuse and osteoarthritis in adulthood, the website Science Daily reported.
Osteoarthritis, which involves a degradation of joints, is an often debilitating chronic condition that affects millions of adults. “We found that 10.2 percent of those with osteoarthritis reported they had been physically abused as children in comparison to 6.5 percent of those without osteoarthritis,” says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson.
“This study provides further support for the need to investigate the possible role that childhood abuse plays in the development of chronic illness.”
Co-author Sarah Brennenstuhl stated: “We were surprised that the significant association between childhood physical abuse and osteoarthritis persisted even after controlling for major potentially confounding factors such as obesity, physical activity levels as well as age, gender, income and race.”
According to the researchers, one important avenue for future research is to investigate the pathways through which arthritis may develop as a consequence of childhood physical abuse.
The study was published in the November issue of the journal Arthritis Care & Research.
- Childhood physical abuse linked to arthritis - Nov 03, 2009
- Childhood sexual abuse spurs heart attacks in men - Sep 07, 2012
- Childhood physical abuse linked to higher cancer risk in adulthood - Jun 26, 2009
- Parental divorce stokes stroke risk three-fold in males: Study - Sep 14, 2012
- Childhood physical abuse linked to heart disease - Jul 23, 2010
- Childhood physical abuse associated with peptic ulcers - Feb 11, 2011
- Childhood abuse may cause suicidal thoughts in adulthood - Apr 25, 2012
- Kids of divorced parents 'face higher stroke risk' - Nov 23, 2010
- Weight loss can improve osteoarthritis-related knee pain - Feb 21, 2011
- Sexually abused girl child more prone to stroke - Nov 14, 2011
- Arthritis patients should stick to exercise to improve physical function - Jul 28, 2010
- Childhood abuse linked to migraine, other pain disorders - Jan 06, 2010
- Obesity, knee osteoarthritis cut down healthy years of life - Feb 16, 2011
- 'Abused kids face elevated cancer risk as adults' - Jul 18, 2012
- Elderly people with clinical depression more prone to knee arthritis - Mar 17, 2011
Tags: adulthood, arthritis care, brennenstuhl, childhood abuse, chronic condition, chronic illness, co author, community health, condition that affects millions, confounding factors, future research, health survey, oa, osteoarthritis, pathways, physical abuse, physical activity levels, representative data, toronto researchers, website science