The annual 2024 OARSI World Congress on Osteoarthritis is being held April 18 – April 21, 2024. The meeting is presented by the Osteoarthritis Research Society International.

Please scroll down to learn more about the research that Arthritis Research Canada/Arthrite-recherche Canada scientists, trainees and patient partners are proud to lead and participate in.

Noisy knees – how common is it and does it matter? A systematic review of knee crepitus prevalence and association with clinical outcomes. 

Knee crepitus, the audible crackling or grinding noise during knee movement, is present in 41% of the general population, 36% of pain-free individuals, and ranged from 35% in those following ligament injury to 81% in knee osteoarthritis. The presence of knee crepitus increased the odds of a diagnosis of osteoarthritis more than 3-fold. Knee crepitus is also associated with the presence of osteophytes, cartilage damage, and bone marrow lesions on MRI.

Research Team: Couch JL, King MG, De Oliveira Silva D, Whittaker JL, Bruder AM, Serighelli F, Kaplan S, Culvenor AG.

The trajectory of knee extensor and flexor strength after a traumatic knee joint injury: Implications for preventing post-traumatic osteoarthritis. 

This study found that active youth who experience a knee joint injury experience a steep decline in their knee strength (front and back of the thigh) of about 30% within 4-months. Over the following two years, strength improved, but they did not fully match the strength of their uninjured peers (9% lower strength).

Research Team: Losciale J, Ye CY, Jansen N, Lu L, Xie H, Hunt MA, Mitchell C, Whittaker J.

Assessing the efficacy of the stop osteoarthritis (SOAR) Program: A randomized delayed-controlled trial for persons at increased risk of early onset post-traumatic knee osteoarthritis.

The SOAR Program is a physiotherapist guided knee health program designed to help people who are at-risk for knee osteoarthritis development build the capability to self-manage their long-term knee health. This study assessed how well an 8-week SOAR Program does in that regard and found that participant’s experienced improvements in their belief about their ability to actively engage and manage their long-term knee health.

Research Team: Losciale J, Truong LK, Zhang K, Silvester-Lee T, Miciak M, Pajkic A, Le CK, Xie H, Hoens AM, Mosewich A, Hunt MA, Li LC, Roos EM, Whittaker JL.