Leonid Kalichman

Introduction. The knowledge about the prevalence of hand osteoarthritis (OA) in different populations, the pattern of joint involvement, and the association with age, sex, and weight might be helpful in the understanding of the etiology and in developing the prevention strategy of hand OA. It can be important from a public health perspective. The study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and pattern of radiographic hand OA in the Turkmen community-based sample and its association with age, sex, and body mass index.

Materials and methods. The study population was comprised of Turkmens (277 males and 427 females, aged 19–90 years). Radiographic hand OA was evaluated for 14 joints of each hand according to the Kellgren and Lawrence grading scheme. Statistical analyses included prevalence estimation, linear regression, and χ2 tests.

Results. 13.8% of individuals before age 36 had at least one joint with OA, and the prevalence reached 100% after age 65. After adjustment for age, we found that females with severe obesity have a higher risk of development of radiographic hand OA than those with normal weight (OR(95%CI): 3.88 (1.20-12.60)).

Conclusion. In the present study, after adjusting for age, we found that in men there was no association between the prevalence of hand OA and BMI. However, women with severe obesity are almost four times more likely to develop hand OA than women of normal weight. © 2023. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Introduction. In the range of topical problems of modern human morphology, the doctrine of bodily constitution occupies an important place, but there is a shortage of data on population variability of somatotypes in the literature. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to study age and sex variations in body composition components using the Heath-Carter method in the Chuvash rural population examined in several villages in the Mariinsky-Posad, Morgaushsky and Yadrinsky districts of Chuvashia and Chuvash villages in the Aurgazinsky and Bizhbulyaksky districts of Bashkiria. The tasks included the determination and analysis of somatotypes according to Heath-Carter of men and women in age subgroups of adult Chuvash and assessment of age-related variability of sexual dimorphism of somatotype scores.

Materials and methods. The study sample consists of 802 men aged 18–89 years (M = 46.9) and 738 women aged 18–90 years (M = 48.6) examined in 1994, 1999 and 2002. Age and sex differences were assessed using one-way analysis of variance. Mahalanobis distances were used to rate the sexual dimorphism of somatotype components.

Results and discussion. Sex differences in the assessment of somatotype variations in the Chuvash population turn out to be most significant for the characteristics of endomorphy, with higher values in women. The values of endomorphy in men after 30 years practically did not change, but in women it continued to increase until the 6th decade, and then decreased with age. There were practically no differences in the mesomorphy; very small differences were found in ectomorphy between men and women aged 18-30 years.

Mesomorphy increases from 18-30 years to 50 in both sexes; the ectomorphy shows opposite age trends. A leveling of sex differences in all body composition components was recorded in the older part of the combined sample (70 – 80 years old).

Conclusions. Local patterns of age-related variability in body composition components for ethnic Chuvash are shown. For the first time, using representative material, indicators of sexual dimorphism have been determined for the complex of components of endomorphy, mesomorphy and ectomorphy in the Chuvash, showing the maximum intersexual differences in the age range of 41-60 years. A predominance of endomesomorphic body types in both sexes was revealed, with a tendency towards balanced mesomorphy in men (the youngest male subgroup is characterized by an ectomesomorphic somatotype). © 2024. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license