I work at a senior citizen center with older adults who have knee and hip osteoarthritis. Is there any truth to the idea that people with a higher education level have milder arthritis disease?

Educational level has been shown to be linked with both pain and physical function in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). People with higher levels of education seem to have lower pain levels. They also have increased levels of function compared to similar patients with lower levels of education.

One reason for this may be the difference between white collar workers (higher education level, less manual labor) and blue collar workers (lower education level and higher manual labor).

Other factors (unrelated to education) may be important. These could include the presence of other diseases, pain from knee OA, and life satisfaction. Another factor may be body mass index (BMI). For example, patients with higher body weight in proportion to body type don't have more pain but they do have less function.