Total hip replacement due to osteoarthritis: the importance of age, obesity, and other modifiable risk factors

We studied whether several modifiable factors were associated with the risk of total hip replacement due to hip osteoarthritis among women. We identified 568 women from the Nurses’ Health Study who reported total hip replacement due to primary hip osteoarthritis on questionnaires from 1990 to 1996, using a validated algorithm. The relation of potential risk factors, such as age, body mass index, physical activity, smoking, alcohol intake, and hormone use, to hip replacement was assessed using pooled logistic regression models. Higher body mass index was associated with an increased risk of hip replacement due to osteoarthritis ( P for trend = 0.0001). Compared with women in the lowest category of body mass index (