Validity of ultrasound in knee osteoarthritis - A systematic review and meta-analysis
An erratum to this article was published (Osteoarthritis Cartilage, 19 Oct 2026 ↗)
Authors' conclusion
Ultrasound demonstrated heterogenous criterion, construct, and discriminative validity in knee OA.
Study context
- Population
- Studies of US validity in knee osteoarthritis (OA); PubMed, Embase (Ovid Medline), EBSCOhost (Medline), inception to December 2024
- Participants
- 9,786 participants106 studies
- Outcome
- Validity of US in knee OA
Methodological detailsmodified Downs and Black checklist quality appraisal
- Modified Downs and Black checklist quality appraisal
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
US validity (pooled correlations and ORs)
- US pathologies vs pain: weak positive correlation (r; I2=0-95%)
- 0.04-0.22
- US pathologies vs serum biomarkers: weak positive correlation (r; I2=0-32%)
- 0.05
- US pathologies vs X-ray: weak-moderate positive correlation (r; I2=0-77%)
- 0.13-0.52
- US pathologies vs MRI-synovitis: moderate correlation (r; I2=32%)
- 0.52
- US pathologies vs histology: negative correlation (r; I2= 0-8%)
- 0.62-0.66
- Discriminative validity for Baker's cyst, effusion and anserine bursitis: strongly positive (OR; I2=0-49%)
- 3.26-5.96
- External responsiveness of synovial effusion regarding pain: weak (r; I2=36%)
- 0.30
- Internal responsiveness for Baker's cyst and effusion: weak-negative to strong-positive (OR; I2 = 0-11%)
- 0.91-2.50
Original publication
Validity of ultrasound in knee osteoarthritis - A systematic review and meta-analysis. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. Published 12 March 2026. doi:10.
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