Predictors and prognosis of locomotor disability in primary care: NORSTOP follow up study

Chronic pain in the hips, knees and feet at ages over 50 years is associated with the condition of osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritis is the main cause of restricted activity in the everyday life of older people, and as the numbers of older people increase in Western societies, so the influence of chronic joint pain on the quality of life and the costs of health and social care will increase. We plan to follow a large group of older people with and without lower limb joint pain, and with and without mobility limitations, over time, and investigate what causes the onset and progression of restricted activity. This will help to inform better primary care and preventive programmes for this very common problem.

Prevention of physical disability in older people is a major public health concern. Osteoarthritis is its main cause and we plan to study the clinical, psychological and social reasons why the clinical syndrome of osteoarthritis in the lower limbs (pain in the hip, knee or foot) leads to locomotor disability, and what determines whether the disability leads to restricted participation in everyday life. Our design uses follow-up of an estimated 8000 people aged over 50 years who were recruited into the North Staffordshire Osteoarthritis Project in 2002, and who have consented to further study and to medical record review and who will be followed to 2009. Findings will inform public health and primary care models for prevention of locomotor disability.