Patients with osteoarthritis who also have diabetes mellitus report higher levels of pain and poorer physical and mental functioning than those without diabetes, researchers have shown for the first time.

An international team, which included researchers from La Trobe University in Victoria, said their study highlighted the need for prevention and better management of osteoarthritis in patients with concomitant diabetes.

The study included almost 2500 patients with knee osteoarthritis, aged 45-79, who were drawn from a longitudinal US cohort known as the Osteoarthritis Initiative. Slightly more than 200 patients (8%) self-reported a diagnosis of diabetes.

The researchers said the patients with diabetes were older, had greater BMI and more comorbidities such as heart failure, stroke, stomach ulcers, poor kidney function or cancer than controls.