A systematic review and meta-analysis of 103 studies with a total sample size of 36,439 people found that the overall prevalence of knee crepitus (popping) in the general population was 41 percent. Among people without knee pain, the prevalence reached 36 percent, and among patients with osteoarthritis, it was 81 percent. The study results were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
Furthermore, as a team of researchers led by Adam Culvenor of La Trobe University found, the overall prevalence of knee crepitus in other knee conditions ranged from 35 percent for ligament damage to 61 percent for cartilage pathology. A meta-analysis showed that knee popping 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 made for the association between knee popping and signs of osteoarthritis on magnetic resonance imaging.
