Unfortunately, a lot of women have added a fourth risk factor to the mix — obesity. Overall, women have osteoarthritis, the most common form of arthritis, at much higher rates than men. Experts estimate that almost 27 million people in the United States have osteoarthritis, and that about 60 percent of them are women.en are more prone to experience arthritis in their hips, while women tend to have it in the knees or hands, he says. There are several reasons why these differences occur. They include: 1  Biology. 2  Women’s bodies are designed to give birth, and that means the tendons in their lower body are more elastic than men’s.