PATIENTS AND METHODS
A total of 102 patients ages 50 to 70 years who were admitted to
University of Health Sciences, Ankara Training and Research Hospital,
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department between April 2016 and
September 2016, were diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis according to the
American College of Rheumatology criteria (8) and 33 healthy volunteers
(mean age 54,6 years; range, 52 to 69 years) were enrolled in this
study.A total of 135 subjects were evaluated by the European Working
Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) diagnostic criteria (4) for
the diagnosis of sarcopenia. The first group consists of knee OA
patients with sarcopenia, the second group consist of OA patients
without sarcopenia and the third group is the control group, which is
not being exposed to be sarcopenia or knee OA. In addition, the patients
who have had knee replacement surgery on the affected limb or for whom
outcomes will be measured after knee replacement surgery or who have a
concomitant joint disease such as rheumatoid arthritis or gout will be
excluded because these conditions or procedures will confound the
assessment of the outcomes of the interventions and those with a history
of malignant disease, hyperthyroidism/ hypothyroidism, chronic
inflammatory disease, diabetes mellitus, and uncontrollable heart and
kidney diseases and pregnant women were excluded. The detailed
musculoskeletal system examination of the patients included in this
study was carried out by a single physician, and whole blood count,
C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, and routine
biochemistry tests were performed using the venous blood samples taken
from the study group. Written informed consent was obtained from each
participant. The study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of
University of Health Sciences, Ankara Training and Research Hospital,
(16/03/2016/633). The study was conducted in accordance with the
principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.