Background  

The present study sought to identify dietary nutrients associated with the prevalence of radiographic knee osteoarthritis (OA) in the Japanese elderly of a population-based cohort of the Research on Osteoarthritis Against Disability (ROAD) study.

Methods  

From the baseline survey of the ROAD study, 719 participants ≥60 years of age (270 men, 449 women) of a rural cohort were analyzed. Dietary nutrient intakes for the previous 1 month were assessed by a self-administered brief diet history questionnaire. The radiographic severity at both knees was determined by the Kellgren/Lawrence (KL) system.

Results  

The prevalence of knee OA of KL ≥2 was 70.8%. Age, body mass index, and female sex were positively associated with the prevalence. Among the dietary factors, only vitamin K intake was shown to be inversely associated with the prevalence of radiographic knee OA by multivariate logistic regression analysis. The presence of joint space narrowing of the knee was also inversely associated with vitamin K intake. The prevalence of radiographic knee OA for each dietary vitamin K intake quartile decreased with the increased intake.

Conclusions  

The present cross-sectional study using a population-based cohort supports the hypothesis that low dietary vitamin K intake is a risk factor for knee OA. Vitamin K may have a protective role against knee OA and might lead to a disease-modifying treatment.