ObjectivesTo systematically review the prevalence and disease burden of knee osteoarthritis (KOA) in China.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched to collect cross-sectional studies about the prevalence and disease burden of KOA in China from January 1st 1995 to August 31st 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Then meta-analysis was performed by using R statistical software.ResultsA total of thirty-three studies were included. The results of meta-analysis showed the prevalance rate of KOA was 18% (95%CI 14% to 22%), and it was higher in women (19%, 95%CI 16% to 23%) than in men (11%, 95%CI 9% to 13%) (P<0.05). The prevalence rates of KOA in different regions were as follows: 11% (95%CI 8% to 14%) in north, 17% (95%CI 15% to 20%) in north-east, 21% (95%CI 13% to 32%) in east, 21% (95%CI 13% to 33%) in north-west, 22% (95%CI 6% to 57%) in south-west, and 18% (95%CI 13% to 23%) in south-central, respectively.ConclusionsThe prevalence of KOA in China is high, and the disease burden is heavy. Due to the quantity and quality of included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions in future.
