The aim of our study was firstly to determine the frequency and the characteristics of metabolic syndrome in patients with knee osteoarthritis and secondly to assess the functional consequences of this combination.

This is a prospective study including patients with knee OA referred to the department of physical medicine of Mahdia.

In all patients, we sought the clinical and biological criteria for metabolic syndrome (according to NCEP - ATP III) and determined the radiological grade of knee OA according to Kellgren and Lawrence (KL). The evaluation had been about pain via the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), overall physical function via WOMAC and Lequesne index.

Forty-nine patients were enrolled in this study, 89.8% women, with a mean age of 58.5 years old and an average of disease duration of 4 years. Knee pain was bilateral in 77.6% of cases. Twenty-six patients (53.1%) had metabolic syndrome, with a mean BMI of 30.9kg/m² (89.6% had obesity or overweight) and a mean waist circumference of 100.6cm. Thirty-two percent of the patients were diabetics, 44.9% were hypertensive and 24.5% had dyslipidemia. More than half of our patients (63.2%) had advanced radiological grade (3 and 4 KL). The prevalence of high triglyceride level, high cholesterol level and low HDL cholesterol level was respectively 19.14%, 54.3% and 18.9%.

Regarding the functional impact, a significant difference was found between patients with and without metabolic syndrome in terms of Lequesne index (P=0.04) and WOMAC pain index (P=0.04).

Knee osteoarthritis is strongly linked to metabolic syndrome. This can be explained by mechanical factors and may have a functional impact. Thus, in addition to weight reduction, adequate care and strict monitoring of metabolic syndrome adorned necessary.