The association of milk consumption with the occurrence of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis

Kaçar C, Gilgil E, Tuncer T, Bütün B, Urhan S, Sünbüloglu G, Yildirim C, Arikan V, Dündar U, Oksüz MC, Tekeoglu I · Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology

Symptomatic knee OA was less common among daily milk drinkers (p < 0.05), and less common among tea drinkers (p < 0.05). No other dietary factor examined — meat, poultry, fish, cereals, vegetables, coffee — showed any association.

Population

Adults aged 50 and over in Antalya, Turkey, interviewed face to face; knee OA diagnosed by ACR criteria

Intervention

Daily milk consumption

Comparator

Less frequent consumption

Limitations

Cross-sectional interview data with no reported adjustment for body weight or the other correlates of drinking milk daily, and prevalent rather than incident disease — people whose knees hurt may have changed what they eat. Recorded as the earliest signal, not as support.