Fingers Point to Risk for Arthritic Knees

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Compared with hands in the other two groups, type 3 hands were correlated with osteoarthritis of the knee and hip, and often included arthritis in the fingers. The researchers noticed that people with type 3 hands were two times more likely to have osteoarthritis of the knee. Women with type 3 hands were at greater risk than men.

The researchers also found that the smaller the upper finger joint ratio between the index and ring fingers, the greater the risk of osteoarthritis of the knee, particularly in the tibiofemoral knee joint. This relationship remained even after other arthritis risk factors such as age, gender, weight, injury and sedentary lifestyle were taken into consideration.

"Specifically, women with the 'male' pattern of 2D:4D length ratio -- that is, ring finger relatively longer than the index finger -- are more likely to develop knee osteoarthritis," lead author Dr. M. Doherty, professor of rheumatology at the university, said in a prepared statement.

More information

To learn more about osteoarthritis, visit the Arthritis Foundation.