A systematic review and meta-analysis of 103 studies with a total sample of 36,439 people found that the overall prevalence of knee crepitus in the general population was 41 percent. In people without knee pain, the figure was 36 percent, and in patients with osteoarthritis, 81 percent. The results of the study were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
In addition, as a team of scientists led by Adam Culvenor from La Trobe University found, in other knee diseases, the overall prevalence of knee crepitus ranged from 35 percent in ligament damage to 61 percent in cartilage pathology. A meta-analysis showed that knee crepitus could potentially be associated with radiographic signs of osteoarthritis, but the reliability of this association was assessed as low to very low. Similar estimates were obtained for the association of knee crepitus with signs of osteoarthritis in magnetic resonance imaging.