Radiologically defined osteoarthrosis in the finger joints of adult residents of Zagreb.

Degenerative changes in the finger joints were studied in 550 Zagreb inhabitants, above the age of 45. The sample was selected by the method of unproportional stratified choice according to age and sex. Radiographs of both hands were taken and osteoarthrosis on the proximal and distal interphalangeal joints was graded according to the five-point Kellgren-Lawrence scale. Body weight, height and arterial blood pressure were measured and occupational work load was evaluated. The prevalence of osteoarthrosis in the finger joints was significantly higher in women (40.9%) than in men (24.8%). It increased with age so that 18.7% of men and 15.0% of women aged 45-54 had finger osteoarthrosis compared to 36.3% of men and 68.2% of women aged 75 and older. Distal interphalangeal joints were more often involved (22.8% of men and 37.9% of women) than the proximal ones (9.7% of men and 19.6% of women). The factors most closely associated with osteoarthrosis were age and body weight. Occupational work load, as classified in this study, was not significantly related to the development of osteoarthrosis, except in the group of housewives, in whom the prevalence of finger arthrosis was greater than in the other groups of women.