Dietary habits, weight history, and vitamin supplement use in elderly osteoarthritis patients.

Osteoarthritis is a chronic disabling disease in the elderly, but few studies have examined nutritional parameters of osteoarthritis patients. For 82 ambulatory elderly osteoarthritis patients, a registered dietitian assessed the following: consumption of 72 food items, using a food-frequency questionnaire; weight history, by measuring current weight and asking the weight at age 20, maximum adult weight, and minimum adult weight; dietary habits; and vitamin supplement consumption. Joint pain and activities of daily living (ADL) were assessed by a physician. On the basis of the Four Food Group guidelines, dietary intakes were suboptimal in the dairy and grain groups, which are important sources of calcium, vitamin D, thiamin, iron, and riboflavin. Eighty percent of the sample were obese (BMI greater than or equal to 27). The average weight change since early adulthood was a gain of 59 lb. Current joint pain and ADL restrictions were not related to obesity or weight gain. Vitamin/mineral supplements were consumed by 37% of the sample.