Association of Age and Sex at Onset with Glenohumeral Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVE:The aim of the present systematic review is to synthesize existing evidence (qualitative and quantitative) regarding age- and sex-specific differences with glenohumeral osteoarthritis. DESIGN:The electronic databases PubMed, MEDLINE, and Web of Science were searched up to March 15, 2023. Articles reporting on the association of risk factors (age and sex) with glenohumeral osteoarthritis were considered. We used Newcastle-Ottawa Scale to assess study quality. Meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively summarize the association of age and sex with glenohumeral osteoarthritis. RESULTS:A total of 24 articles were retrieved for full-text review. Of 24 articles, 8 reporting age-specific and 5 articles reporting sex-specific associations with glenohumeral osteoarthritis were included. The odds ratio for the age (odds ratio = 3.18; 95% confidence interval = 1.10-15.92) and female sex (odds ratio = 1.78; 95% confidence interval = 0.95-3.42) were increased and observed statistically significant. CONCLUSIONS:The present systematic review and meta-analysis suggests the role of increasing age as one of the significant contributors to glenohumeral osteoarthritis. However, association of female sex with glenohumeral osteoarthritis is least convincing. Future studies are required to understand the molecular mechanisms behind the contributory role of increasing age and female sex in the establishment of glenohumeral osteoarthritis.