African-American women have the highest risk of developing knee osteoarthritis (OA) and needing joint replacement surgery

The research, which looked at the lifetime risk of knee OA for different segments of society, also found that Hispanic women have higher rates than white women and than men of all races. Among people age 40 without existing arthritis, the highest lifetime risk of developing painful knee OA is in African-American women (17%) and the lowest was in whiten men (10%). By age 65, 11.3% of African-American women, 10.5% of Hispanic women and 10% of white women are expected to develop painful knee OA. Total knee replacement is expected to be needed in 6.8% of African-American women but in only 3.8% of Hispanic men. Much of the higher risk among African-American and Hispanic women is due to their higher rates being overweight or obese, a major risk factor for developing knee OA, particularly in women.