Prevalence and Characteristics of Onychomycosis in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Single-centre Prospective Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Knee disorders that compromise patients' lower leg movements and self-care may put these patients at greater risk of onychomycosis. However, little is known about the prevalence of onychomycosis in pa-tients with knee diseases. This study evaluated the prevalence and characteristics of onychomycosis in patients with knee osteoarthritis. A total of 520 conse-cutive patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis who visited the Department of Orthopedics for a po-tential knee surgery were evaluated for onychomyco-sis by PCR-based reverse blot hybridization assay. Of the 520 patients, 308 (59.2%) were diagnosed with onychomycosis. Age (p = 0.004), male sex (p = 0.015), and being barefooted (p = 0.031) were statistically sig-nificant risk factors for onychomycosis. Knee disease severity, based on Kellgren-Lawrence grade, was as-sociated with severity of onychomycosis. The impair-ment of physical function and self-care caused by knee disorders may increase the prevalence of onychomy-cosis in these patients.