Association of weather factors with the risk of pain exacerbations in people with hip osteoarthritis

Abstract

Objectives: Our objective was to evaluate the association of weather factors with the risk of pain exacerbations in people with symptomatic hip osteoarthritis (OA). Method: Eligible participants with symptomatic hip OA were instructed to log on to the study website and complete questionnaires every 10 days and additionally whenever they considered they were experiencing a pain exacerbation (case period) during the 90 day follow-up. Pain exacerbation was defined as an increase of two points in pain intensity on an 11-point numeric rating scale (0–10) during the follow-up compared with baseline. Each case period was anchored to four control periods within a 35 day interval using a time-stratif..