Osteoarthritis in the Hip, Knee and Hand Clinical Trial
Osteoarthritis is a common disease. The core treatment is often patient education. The aim of this study is therefore to study the effect of a patient education programme for patients with osteoarthritis in primary health care.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative disease, considered to be one of the major national
diseases that cause suffering for affected patients and costs for society.The predominant
symptoms are pain, stiffness and impaired quality of life, often together with psychological
distress. Treatment often consists of medication. Later in the disease, when the joint is
destroyed, joint replacement surgery commonly occurs. Physical exercises aimed to increase
muscle strength, endurance, proprioception and stability have proved to influence cartilage
as well as function, symptoms and quality of life positively. Physical exercise may also
reduce the need for hospital care after knee joint replacement.
Research suggests that patient education is feasible and valuable in terms of improvements
in quality of life, in function, in well-being and improved coping . Accordingly, guidelines
recommend education as a core treatment for osteoarthritis.
Patient education programmes are often defined as a planned learning experience to influence
a patient's knowledge and health behaviour [13]. There are various types of patient
education. It can be given by a physician as part of consultation, in small groups or
delivered by a multi-disciplinary team [13, 14] Since 1994, Primary Health Care in Malmö has
used a patient education programme directed towards OA. The programme has been developed by
physiotherapists and occupational therapists in primary health care and has been implemented
in the ordinary work.
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Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Single Blind (Outcomes Assessor), Primary Purpose: Treatment