Finger length 'can be used to predict osteoarthritis and joint pain'

Doctors could use the length of the person's fingers to identify whether they are at risk of osteoarthritis and chronic joint pain.

A new Dutch study from the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam has suggested that a type 3 finger length pattern - characterised by a longer fourth digit than second digit - could be associated with certain types of joint disease.

This finger length pattern is influenced by prenatal androgens and has been studied previously as a biomarker for sexually dimorphic traits. Both osteoarthritis and chronic pain are known to present differently in men and women, an observation that formed the basis of this new study.

Researchers examined 4,784 participants, with the associations between type 3 finger length and radiologic knee, hip, and hand osteoarthritis and chronic joint pain analysed.

According to data from the medical journal Arthritis Care & Research, participants with type 3 finger length pattern had an odds ratio of 1.64 for hand osteoarthritis.

Moreover, the meta-analysis of previously published data and the new findings from this research showed a significant association between this finger length pattern and clinical symptomatic knee osteoarthritis. Additionally, an odds ratio of 1.41 for individuals having joint pain at multiple sites was seen among people with the type 3 pattern.

The researchers concluded: "Type 3 finger length pattern, as an indicator of prenatal androgen exposure, was associated with having symptomatic knee osteoarthritis, chronic pain and hand osteoarthritis. Therefore, it may be applicable as an easy measurable biomarker to identify susceptible subjects for these traits."

A spokesman for Arthritis Research UK said that previous research had suggested a potential link between people's index (ring) finger ratios and an increased risk of developing severe osteoarthritis.