Fears that wearing high-heeled shoes could lead to knee arthritis are unfounded, say researchers.

But being overweight, smoking, and having a previous knee injury does increase the risk, the team from Oxford Brookes University found.

They looked at more than 100 women aged between 50 and 70 waiting for knee surgery, and found that choice of shoes was not a factor.

The study was published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.

More than 2% of the population aged over 55 suffers extreme pain as a result of osteoarthritis of the knee.

The condition is twice as common in 65-year-old women as it is in men the same age.

Women's and men's knees are not biologically different, so the researchers wanted to find out why twice as many women as men develop osteoarthritis in the joint.

Some researchers have speculated that high-heeled shoes may be to blame.

The women in the study were quizzed on details of their height and weight when they left school, between 36 and 40 and between 51 and 55.

They were asked about injuries, their jobs, smoking and use of contraceptive hormones.

However, while many of these factors were linked to an increased risk over the years, tottering around in high heels for years was not.

The researchers wrote: "Most of the women had been exposed to high heeled shoes over the years - nevertheless, a consistent finding was a reduced risk of osteoarthritis of the knee."

There was an even more pronounced link between regular dancing in three-inch heels and a reduced risk of knee problems.

The researchers described this finding as "surprising", but said that they would not expect a larger-scale study to overturn their findings.

研究者们称，人们害怕穿高跟鞋会导致膝盖关节炎是没有根据的。

牛津布鲁克斯大学研究小组发现，肥胖、吸烟或者以前膝盖受过伤却增加得关节炎的危险。

他们对年龄在50到70岁之间的100名将要做关节手术的妇女进行研究，发现选择什么样的鞋并不是导致关节炎的因素。

该研究在《流行病学与公共卫生》杂志上发表。

55岁以上的人群中有超过2%的人忍受着膝盖关节炎带来的极度痛苦。

这种情况在65岁的妇女中发生的几率是同年龄男性的两倍。

女性和男性的膝盖在生理上并没有什么不同，所以研究者们想要知道为什么患关节炎的女性人数是男性的两倍。

有研究者推测高跟鞋可能是罪魁祸首。

参加该项研究的妇女们被详细询问了她们在毕业时、30到40岁之间，51到55岁之间的身高和体重。

研究人员还询问她们的受伤、工作、吸烟和使用避孕激素的情况。

然而，多年来，许多因素都增加了患关节炎的危险，但是常年穿着高跟鞋走路不是原因之一。

研究者们写到：“大多数妇女很多年来一直穿高跟鞋，然而可靠的发现表明他们患膝盖关节炎的危险反而降低了。”

研究者们甚至发现经常穿三英寸高的高跟鞋跳舞明显和降低膝盖得病的危险有关。

研究者们称这一发现是“令人惊讶的”，但是他们说不指望有大规模的研究会推翻他们的发现。