Acetabular dysplasia and the risk of developing hip osteoarthritis within 4-8 years: An individual participant data meta-analysis of 18,807 hips from the World COACH consortium

Objective: To study the association between various radiographic definitions of acetabular dysplasia (AD) and incident radiographic hip osteoarthritis (RHOA), and to analyze in subgroups.

Methods: Hips free of RHOA at baseline and with follow-up within 4-8 years were drawn from the World COACH consortium. The Wiberg center edge angle (WCEA), acetabular depth width ratio (ADR), and the modified acetabular index (mAI) were calculated. AD was defined as WCEA≤25°, and for secondary analyses as WCEA≤20°, ADR ≤250, mAI ≥ 13°, and a combination. A logistic regression model with generalized mixed effects with 3 levels adjusted for age, biological sex, and body mass index (BMI) was used. Descriptive statistics stratified by age, biological sex and BMI were reported.

Results: A total of 18,807 hips from 9 studies were included. Baseline characteristics: age 61.84 (± 8.32) years, BMI 27.40 (± 4.49) kg/m², 70.1% women. 4766 hips (25.3%) had WCEA≤25°. Within 4-8 years (mean 5.8 ±1.6) follow-up, 378 hips (2.0%) developed incident RHOA. We found an association between AD and RHOA (adjusted OR [aOR] 1.80 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.40-2.34). In secondary analyses, all other definitions of AD were also associated with incident RHOA (aOR ranging from 1.52 95% CI 1.19-1.94 to 1.96 95% CI 1.26-3.02). Descriptive statistics showed that the relative risk (RR) in AD hips to develop RHOA was higher compared to non-AD hips in age group 61-70 (RR 1.70), BMI<25 (RR 1.66), and in female hips (RR 1.73).

Conclusion: AD was consistently associated with incident RHOA. Explorative analyses show that AD hips in women and age group 61-70 years seem to be more at risk of developing RHOA compared to non-AD hips.