Effects of an osteoarthritis self-management programme

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a self-management programme among osteoarthritis knee sufferers.

Background: Osteoarthritis of the knee is a major cause of loss of function and is common in the older people. A self-management programme is an effective way to increase arthritis self-efficacy, and helps with mastering self-management practices.

Method: This study was carried out from January 2008 to December 2008 and included 205 participants, with 114 in the intervention group and 91 in the control group. The 4-week trial was followed by an 8-week follow-up assessment. The outcome measures included assessments of arthritis self-efficacy, pain beliefs, unplanned medical consultations, pain days and disability days using the Mann-Whitney U-test and Friedman test.

Findings: At post-intervention, significant differences were found in pain beliefs (P<0·001) and pain days (P<0·004). At 8-week follow-up, there was a significant improvement in arthritis self-efficacy: pain and other symptoms subscales (P<0·001 and 0·049, respectively), pain beliefs (P<0·001) and number of unplanned medical consultations (P<0·010).

Conclusion: The study supports the hypothesis that a self-management programme enhances arthritis-related self-efficacy and pain beliefs. A decrease in the number of unplanned medical consultations, pain days and disability days suggests that the programme might help reduce healthcare costs. This programme has introduced a significant result about self-efficacy and self-management to a chronic disease population in Taiwan. In short, there were great beneficial effects on self-management among persons who are affected by knee osteoarthritis.