Joint laxity was compared in 50 females with symptomatic osteoarthrosis and an age-matched control group without osteoarthrosis. Generalized joint laxity measured by the scoring system of Carter and Wilkinson (1964) modified by Beighton (1973) was significantly higher in the osteoarthritic group (x2 = 10.00, P<0.05). In osteoarthritics the pattern of clinical joint involvement varied with the degree of generalized joint laxity.