ArticleOsteoarthritis and cartilage2023
A scoping review of how early-stage knee osteoarthritis has been defined.
Article in Osteoarthritis and cartilage, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 89 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of the efficacy of platelet-rich plasma versus corticosteroid in the treatment of adhesive capsulitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis based on randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- High prevalence and multifactorial risks of sarcopenia in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Cryotherapy in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review With Meta-Analysis.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Pooled it
- Effectiveness and Safety of Pharmacopuncture Therapy Compared to Standard Physical Therapy in Patients with Chronic Knee Pain: A Pilot Study for a Pragmatic Randomized Controlled Trial.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2025Trial
- On-chip 3D potency assay for prediction of clinical outcomes for cell therapy candidates for osteoarthritis.Nature communications · 2025Trial
- Adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cell injection into the KI10 acupoint mitigates cartilage damage in KOA rats through PGE2-mediated α7nAChR/NF-κB pathway.Animal models and experimental medicine · 2026Article
- Early Patellofemoral Osteoarthritis Following ACL Reconstruction: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Rethinking early-stage knee osteoarthritis beyond radiography.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2026Article
- Knee Osteoarthritis on MRI in Symptomatic Young Adults After ACL Reconstruction From the SUPER-Knee Trial: Feature Prevalence and Association With Early-Stage Clinical Osteoarthritis Criteria.Orthopaedic journal of sports medicine · 2026Article
- Effects of thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) levels in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with knee osteoarthritis.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2026Article
- Early detection of knee osteoarthritis - The role of a composite disease activity metric: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Anti-inflammatory and osteogenic effects of transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation in knee osteoarthritis rats via the regulation of the intestinal microbiota.Animal models and experimental medicine · 2026Article
- Serum Omentin-1 and CS846: Biomarkers for diagnosis and post-TKA functional outcomes in knee osteoarthritis.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2026Article
- Preventing osteoarthritis after anterior cruciate ligament injury: The case for targeting pre-osteoarthritis illness.Osteoarthritis and cartilage · 2026Article
- Progression and influencing factors of knee osteoarthritis based on a multi-state Markov model: Data from OAI.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Integration of gold standard arthroscopy, MRI and synovial histopathology outcomes for enhancing early knee osteoarthritis diagnosis.Aging clinical and experimental research · 2026Article
- Synovial inflammatory macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles exacerbate cartilage lesions with a FMRP-selectively sorted manner in osteoarthritis.Bone research · 2026Article
- Association between low-density lipoprotein and structural changes in the knee joint of patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis is mediated by relative fat mass.European journal of medical research · 2026Article
- Associated factors influencing pain and slower gait speed in older adults with knee osteoarthritis: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Mechanism driven adaptation of smart hydrogels to the osteoarthritis pathological microenvironment.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 5 institutions in 5 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly-stage knee osteoarthritis (KOA) classification criteria will enable consistent identification and trial recruitment of individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) at an earlier stage of the disease when interventions may be more effective. Toward this goal, we identified how early-stage KOA has been defined in the literature.
methodsWe performed a scoping literature review in PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane, and Web of Science, including human studies where early-stage KOA was included as a study population or outcome. Extracted data included demographics, symptoms/history, examination, laboratory, imaging, performance-based measures, gross inspection/histopathologic domains, and the components of composite early-stage KOA definitions.
resultsOf 6142 articles identified, 211 were included in data synthesis. An early-stage KOA definition was used for study inclusion in 194 studies, to define study outcomes in 11 studies, and in the context of new criteria development or validation in six studies. The element most often used to define early-stage KOA was Kellgren-Lawrence (KL) grade (151 studies, 72%), followed by symptoms (118 studies, 56%), and demographic characteristics (73 studies, 35%); 14 studies (6%) used previously developed early-stage KOA composite criteria. Among studies defining early-stage KOA radiographically, 52 studies defined early-stage KOA by KL grade alone; of these 52, 44 (85%) studies included individuals with KL grade 2 or higher in their definitions.
conclusionEarly-stage KOA is variably defined in the published literature. Most studies included KL grades of 2 or higher within their definitions, which reflects established or later-stage OA. These findings underscore the need to develop and validate classification criteria for early-stage KOA.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.