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Clinical diagnosis of osteoarthritis (OA)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Clinical diagnosis of OA:

  • diagnose osteoarthritis clinically without investigations if a person:
    • is 45 or over and
    • has activity-related joint pain and
    • has either no morning joint-related stiffness or morning stiffness that lasts no longer than 30 minutes

Notes:

  • be aware that atypical features, such as a history of trauma, prolonged morning joint-related stiffness, rapid worsening of symptoms or the presence of a hot swollen joint, may indicate alternative or additional diagnoses. Important differential diagnoses include gout, other inflammatory arthritides (for example, rheumatoid arthritis), septic arthritis and malignancy (bone pain).

Reference:


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