• Corpus ID: 1542344

Prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis in elderly sub jects in a rural area of Catalonia

@inproceedings{Ausi2004PrevalenceOA,
  title={Prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis in elderly sub jects in a rural area of Catalonia},
  author={Josep Ausi and Josep Brugulat and Miquel Casadevall and Teresa Esquerra and Josep Fontarnau and Alejandro Ganiko and V. Grenzner},
  year={2004}
}

• Josep Ausi, Josep Brugulat, +4 authors V. Grenzner
• Published 2004
• Medicine

Objectives-To undertake an epidemiological survey of the prevalence of radiological chondrocalcinosis in the elderly population of Osona, a rural area of Catalonia, north east Spain. Methods-Knee and wrist radiographs were performed on 261 subjects (141 women, 120 men) aged at least 60 years, who attended a series of 35 general practitioners for various medical problems. Results-Twenty seven subjects had articular chondrocalcinosis, which represents a crude prevalence of 10%. Articular chondrocalcinosis was more often observed in women than in men (14 v 6%). Articular chondrocalcinosis increases in occurrence with age, rising from 7% in subjects aged 60-69 years to 430/0 in subjects older than 80 years. A similar occurrence of articular chondrocalcinosis was noted in the indigenous population, in which several cases of familial chondrocalcinosis have previously been reported, and in subjects born in other areas of Spain. All but one subject with articular chondrocalcinosis had chondrocalcinosis of the knee. The occurrence ofrheumatic disorders did not differ significantly between subjects with articular chondrocalcinosis and those without. Conclusions-Articular chondrocalcinosis is an age related disorder, which could partly explain the discrepancies in its prevalence reported in previous studies. In most subjects with articular chondrocalcinosis recruited from an unselected population the clinical manifestations are probably mild or even absent. (Ann Rheum Dis 1993; 52: 418-422) Since its initial description by Zitnan and Sitaj in 1958,1 articular chondrocalcinosis has been considered a common disorder. It is well known that articular chondrocalcinosis is an age related disorder and occurs most often in elderly subjects. Data on the prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis among the elderly is controversial, however, and ranges from 6 to 34%,2-17 depending on the characteristics of the population studied and the methods, anatomical2l or radiological,5-17 used to evaluate the presence of calcium pyrophosphate dihydrate deposits. Few extensive studies on the prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis have been carried out and most of these are based on patients in hospital or rheumatic patients not representative of the general population. In the only two previous studies performed in the general population prevalence rates of 150/o16 and 8/1%/7 were reported. Some controversy therefore arises about the prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis, its distribution between the sexes, and about the relation between articular chondrocalcinosis and rheumatic disorders. Osona is a rural area of Catalonia, north east Spain. The total population of this area in 1988 was 111 931, of whom 20 791 (8896 men, 11 895 women) were aged at least 60 years. Most ofthese subjects were from other Spanish regions. A rheumatology unit attached to a general hospital was first established in 1987 and since then several cases of familial chondrocalcinosis in the indigenous population have been reported.'8 l9 In 1989 we undertook a survey of the prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis in 261 subjects aged more than 60 years and analysed the relation between articular chondrocalcinosis and age, sex, geographical origin, and rheumatic disorders. To our knowledge this is the most extensive European epidemiological survey on the prevalence of articular chondrocalcinosis in an unselected elderly population. Subjects and methods In May-July 1989, 37 primary care doctors from 15 different rural areas of Osona were invited to participate in the study. It was decided that 10 subjects, each attending a different public primary care centre, would be recruited randomly by their doctor over a period of one week. On each day the first two subjects seen aged at least 60 years, irrespective of their sex and reasons for referral, were recruited for inclusion in the study. Some of these subjects attended their primary care doctor for a general check up as part of a programme to prevent disease in the elderly. For others the reason for referral was a medical disorder, mainly respiratory disease or hypertension. Verbal and written information was given to each subject before their inclusion in the study. After consent, a questionnaire including age, sex, place of birth (in the Osona Hospital General de Vic, Osona, Barcelona, Spain R Sanmarti D Pafiella J Brugues Hospital Clinic de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain MA Branc6s A Collado Department ofPublic Health, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain J Canela Correspondence to: Dr Raimon Sanmarti, Servicio de Reumatologia, Hospital Clinic i Provincial, Villarroel 170, 08036 Barcelona, SVain. Accepted for publication 1 February 1993 418 group.bmj.com on May 28, 2017 Published by http://ard.bmj.com/ Downloaded from