Osteoarthritis Musculoskeletal disability and osteoarthritis increase with increasing age. There are thus two main sequences which may end in poor outcomes. The first is traditional, in which patient characteristics, biological factors and risk factors such as obesity and injuries accelerate the rate of degeneration of articular cartilage. Over time, this process results in clinical osteoarthritis. The progress of the clinical osteoarthritis might be affected positively or negatively by effects of the treatment upon cartilage and by the side effects of therapy which might allow or not allow consistent application of a regimen.
Side effects can also contribute directly to poor outcomes.
Reconstruction of failed joints as in total knee replacement or total hip replacement may be appropriately employed or not. In addition, patient characteristics and a larger set of risk factors including a sedentary life, obesity, injuries, and other lifestyle factors including psychological factors, determine the rate of musculoskeletal aging or atrophy. The musculoskeletal aging process is related to time, but also includes a significant element of disuse atrophy. Soft tissue injuries and impairments add to progression of this syndrome. The Therapeutic Segment and the Concept of Cumulative Outcomes Outcome assessment in the rheumatic diseases has traditionally used endpoints at a single point in time as the primary dependent variable and has analyzed treatment effects after fixed treatment durations, such as one year.