Injury is an important risk factor for osteoarthritis (OA), a highly prevalent and disabling joint disease. Joint shape is linked to OA, but the interplay of injury and joint shape and their combined role in OA, particularly at the ankle, is not well known. Therefore, we explored cross-sectional associations between ankle shape and injury in a large community-based cohort.
Ankles without radiographic OA were selected from the current data collection of the Johnston County OA Project. Ankles with self-reported prior injury were included as injury cases (
A total of 194 participants (213 ankles) were included; mean age 71 years, BMI 30 kg/m
This study showed variations in ankle shape and history of injury as well as with race. These novel findings may indicate a change in ankle morphology following injury, or that ankle morphology predisposes to injury, and suggest that ankle shape is a potentially important factor in the development of ankle OA.