Degenerative joint diseases in the appendicular skeleton in Portuguese people from early 20th century

ANA LUISA SANTOS; MARIO A. ARRIETA

Austin, Texas

Congreso; 45th Annual North American Meeting of Paleopathology Association; 2018

Paleopathology Association

Degenerative joint changes are one of the most common lesions recorded in bioarchaeological analyses. While its etiology is not fully understood, age is considered one of the factors that most influences its expression. However, studies in young adults are scarce. Therefore, this work aims to explore prevalence of degenerative joint disease in individuals between 25 and 54 years old with known sex, age-at-death, and occupation. From the Identified Skeletal Collection of Coimbra (Portugal), 78 males and 76 females, with age-at-death grouped in decades (25-34, 35-44, 45-54), were selected. Marginal lipping (marginal osteophytes), porosity, surface osteophytes and eburnation were recorded from the articular surfaces of the bones involved in appendicular joints. The results obtained were grouped as ?absent?, ?barely discernible? (grades 0-1), ?obvious? (grades 2-3) (adapted from Zampetti et al. (2016)). The joints mostly affected were hand, hip, knee, and foot. A statistically significant increase in the frequency of marginal lipping and surface osteophytes with age (p