Table 4

Associations between the study participants' characteristics and the SF-36 health-related quality of life scores (n = 197)

SF-36 SCORE^†

β^‡

95% CI

p value

Physical functioning (r² = 0.17)

BMI^§

- 0.69

- 1.10 – - 0.29

<0.001*

Use of a walking aid

- 8.28

- 13.25 – - 3.31

0.001*

Contralateral knee pain

- 6.03

- 11.37 – - 0.69

0.027*

Age

- 0.26

-0.52 – - 0.01

0.049*

Role-physical (r² = 0.17)

Use of a walking aid

- 15.23

- 22.42 – - 8.06

<0.001*

Psychological distress

- 0.71

- 1.23 – - 0.18

0.008*

Marital status (Married or common law)

8.47

1.08 – 15.85

0.025*

Comorbidities

-1.46

- 2.95 – - 0.03

0.044*

Bodily pain (r² = 0.05)

Use of a walking aid

- 3.85

- 7.27 – - 0.44

0.027*

Physical component scale - PCS (r²= 0.08)°

Use of a walking aid

- 2.90

- 4.78 – - 1.02

0.003*

BMI

- 0.17

- 0.32 – - 0.02

0.030*

Mental component scale – MCS (r² = 0.42)°

Psychological distress

- 0.74

- 0.88 – - 0.60

<0.001*

Low social support

- 2.28

- 4.14 – - 0.41

0.017*

Contralateral knee pain

- 2.60

- 4.61 – - 0.59

0.011*

^† Stepwise multiple regression analysis. Age and gender were forced into all models.

^‡ Multivariate unstandardized linear regression coefficients. For each unit of the participants' characteristics there is on average a β increase (+) or a decrease (-) on the SF-36 score. A positive β has a positive effect on the participants' condition and a negative β has a negative effect.

* p < 0.05

^§ BMI = Body mass index

° n = 196

Desmeules et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2009 10:52   doi:10.1186/1471-2474-10-52