Arthritis of the First Carpometacarpal Joint Is Common, Especially in Older Women

Osteoarthritis in the hands usually involves the distal interphalangeal joints (Heberden nodes) and proximal interphalangeal joints (Bouchard nodes), and pain usually resolves in 1 to 2 years. However, first carpometacarpal joint osteoarthritis (CMC1 OA) often remains a chronically painful condition with exacerbations of pain and decreased function over time. Clinical symptoms do not necessarily correlate with commonly observed radiographic changes, and physical examination findings of pain over this joint might be better than a radiograph at predicting a patient's function.

To determine the prevalence of physician-diagnosed CMC1 OA, researchers in Sweden identified all adults (from a population of 1.34 million) with physical exam findings o…