ORIGINAL ARTICLE Duarte Pereira 1,2 & Milton Severo 1,2 & Rui A. Santos 3 & Henrique Barros 1,2 & Jaime Branco 4 & Raquel Lucas 1,2 & Lúcia Costa 5 & Elisabete Ramos 1,2 Received: 21 January 2015 /Revised: 31 July 2015 /Accepted: 28 September 2015 /Published online: 7 October 2015 # International League of Associations for Rheumatology (ILAR) 2015 Abstract The association between radiographic osteoarthritis (OA) and symptoms is inconsistent and variable according to each joint. The purpose of this study is to understand the relation between radiographic OA features, pain, function and quality of life, in knee and hip joints. A cross-sectional study was performed using information from EPIPorto cohort. Data was obtained by interview using a structured question- naire on social, demographic, behavioural and clinical data. Pain was assessed using a pain frequency score (regarding ever having knee pain, pain in the last year, in the last 6 months and in the last month). Quality of life was evaluated with Short Form 36 (SF-36) and function disability with the Lequesne knee and hip indexes. Radiographic knees and hips were clas- sified using the Kellgren–Lawrence score (KL 0–4). Linear regression and proportional odds ratios estimated the associa- tion between radiographic features, pain, function and quality of life. In our study, symptomatic OA (KL ≥ 2 plus joint pain) was 26.0 % in knee and 7.0 % hip joints. In knee, the increase on radiographic score increased the odds to have a higher pain frequency score [1.58 (95 % CI=1.27, 1.97)] and was associated [adjusted β (95 % CI)] with worst general health [-3.05 (-5.00, -1.09)], physical function [-4.92 (-7.03, -2.80)], role-physical [-4.10 (-8.08, -0.11)], bodily pain [-2.96 (-5.45, -0.48)] and limitations in activities of daily living [0.48 (0.08, 0.89)]. Regarding hip, no significant asso- ciations were found between the severity of radiographic le- sions and these measures. Radiographic lesions in knee were associated with higher complaints, as far as pain and function- al limitations are concerned, compared with hip. Keywords Disability . Hip . Knee . Osteoarthritis . Pain . Quality of life Introduction Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common age-related disease and is the major cause of pain and locomotor disability world- wide [1]. OA is a complex joint disease characterized by focal cartilage loss, new bone formation and involvement of all joint Clin Rheumatol (2016) 35:1555–1564 DOI 10.1007/s10067-015-3087-7 * Duarte Pereira duartefisio@hotmail.com Milton Severo milton@med.up.pt Rui A. Santos rui.andre@netcabo.pt Henrique Barros hbarros@med.up.pt Jaime Branco jaime.branco@fcm.unl.pt Raquel Lucas rlucas@med.up.pt Lúcia Costa dias.costa.ml@gmail.com Elisabete Ramos eliramos@med.up.pt 1 Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Predictive Medicine and Public Health, University of Porto Medical School, 4200-319 Porto, Portugal 2 EPI Unit, Public Health Institute, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal 3 Hospital Beatriz Ângelo, Loures, Portugal 4 CEDOC, Nova Medical School/Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Rheumatology Department, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, CHLO, EPE—Hospital Egas Moniz, Lisboa, Portugal 5 Rheumatology Department, EPE–Hospital S. João, Porto, Portugal Knee and hip radiographic osteoarthritis features: differences on pain, function and quality of life