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Knee osteoarthritis in two ethnic groups in southern Israel: Risk factors and the role of Muslim prayer
Gasem Aziadna, Majed Abu Rashid, Yulia Treister-Goltzman, Family Medicine, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel
Co-first authors: Gasem Aziadna and Majed Abu Rashid.
Author contributions: Aziadna G contributed to the conceptualization and methodology of the study, investigation, validation, and writing-review and editing; Abu Rashid M contributed to the conceptualization and methodology of the study, investigation, validation, and writing-review and editing; Treister-Goltzman Y contributed to the conceptualization and methodology of the study, data curation, formal analysis, software, supervision, visualization, validation, writing-original draft, and writing-review & editing. Aziadna G and Abu Rashid M contributed equally to this work as co-first authors.
AI contribution statement: AI tools were not used during manuscript preparation. AI tools were not used to generate original scientific data, perform independent scientific analyses, or draw scientific conclusions.
Supported by Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Institutional review board statement: Prior to recruitment approval was obtained from our institutional/regional/national research ethics committee: The Ethics Committee of Clalit health Services (approval No. com1-0085-17).
Informed consent statement: The privacy rights of human subjects have been observed, and informed consent was obtained from all the participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict-of-interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items-and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, upon reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Yulia Treister-Goltzman, MD, PhD, Family Medicine, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, POB 653, Beer-Sheva 84105, Israel. yuliatr@walla.com
Received: April 10, 2026
Revised: May 28, 2026
Accepted: June 24, 2026
Published online: July 18, 2026
Processing time: 108 Days and 12.4 Hours
Revised: May 28, 2026
Accepted: June 24, 2026
Published online: July 18, 2026
Processing time: 108 Days and 12.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This cross-sectional study compared osteoarthritis of knee (OAK) prevalence and associated factors among Jewish and Bedouin adults aged ≥ 50 years in southern Israel. Despite distinct lifestyles, OAK prevalence and symptom severity were similar between the groups. Higher body mass index was positively associated with OAK in both populations, while diabetes was positively associated with OAK in Jews. Notably, traditional Muslim prayer was strongly associated with lower OAK prevalence and milder symptoms among Bedouins, suggesting a protective effect comparable to regular physical activity among Jews. These findings support culturally tailored preventive strategies, while acknowledging that causality cannot be inferred.