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A study was conducted to evaluate the association between age, sex, BMI, waist/hip ratio, smoking, religion, ethnicity, education and knee osteoarthritis. Eligible subjects were randomly included from the participants of Tehran COPCORD study, of whom 480 subjects with knee osteoarthritis were compared to 490 healthy subjects (case-control study). Using a questionnaire developed by COPCORD group,(Asia & Oceania). The risk factors of knee osteoarthritis, ie age, sex, BMI, Waist/Hip ratio, religion, ethnicity, education and smoking were evaluated. Knee osteoarthritis was defined using the ACR criteria. Each knee was unit of analysis using GEE technique to evaluate these associations. Results showed that age (OR: 1.096; CI95%: 1.091-1.1; P: 0.00) and sex (OR: 2.85; CI95%: 2.49-3.28; P: 0.00) showed significant association with knee osteoarthritis. Overweight (OR: 1.81; CI95%: 1.28-2.55; P: 0.00) and obesity (OR: 3.3; CI95%: 2.34-4.66; P: 0.00) both showed higher risk for knee osteoarthritis. The association between waist/hip ratio and knee osteoarthritis showed an OR of 5.28, CI95%: 0.89-31.44; P: 0.07. However, this association was only borderline significant. People with different religions or ethnicity and smokers had no extra risks for knee osteoarthritis. Higher education is a protective factor for knee osteoarthritis as people who had university education compared to people with no/primary education, showed a lower risk for knee osteoarthritis (OR: 0.54; CI95%: 0.38-0.78; P: 0.00). Our study confirmed that elderly, females, overweight and obese people are at higher risk to develop knee osteoarthritis as found in western societies. Higher …