Impact of an Arthritis Self-Management Programme with an added exercise component for osteoarthritic knee sufferers on improving pain, functional outcomes, and use of health care services: An experimental study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

The aim of this study was to assess the effect of an adopted Arthritis Self-Management Programme (ASMP) with an added exercise component among osteoarthritic knee sufferers in Hong Kong.

METHODS:

An experimental study with 88 participants assigned to an intervention group and 94 participants to a control group. One hundred and forty-nine participants (81.9%) completed the 1 week and 120 participants (65.6%) the 16 week post-intervention assessments. Participants in the intervention group received a 6-week ASMP with an added exercise component. Outcome measures included arthritic pain and fatigue rating, practice of light exercise routines, functional status, and number of unplanned arthritis-related medical consultations. To assess the programme's effect on outcome measures, the between-groups and within-group mean changes were compared using Mann-Whitney U-test and Friedman test.

RESULTS:

At 16 weeks, there were significant mean changes between groups in four outcome measures: reduction in arthritis pain (p=0.0001) and fatigue (p=0.008), and increased duration of weekly light exercise practice (p=0.0001) and knee flexion (p=0.004). The ability to perform daily activities and the number of unplanned arthritis-related medical consultations show statistically significant improvements between three time-points within the intervention group only (p=0.0001 and p=0.005, respectively), but not between-groups (p=0.14 and p=0.86, respectively). Both groups apparently had no changes in muscle strength.

CONCLUSION:

Our findings suggest that the intervention had a positive effect in reducing pain, fatigue, knee range of motion, the practice of exercise routines, the number of medical consultations and in improving functional status and over a 16-week period.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS:

The self-management programme we applied took into account the local context and the ethnicity of the group. This process is worth further exploration and testing in different groups.

• Authors: Y B Yip, Janet W Sit, Karin K Y Fung, Doris Y S Wong, Samantha Y C Chong, L H Chung, T P Ng
• Journal: Patient education and counseling (Patient Educ Couns) Vol. 65 Issue 1 Pg. 113-21 (Jan 2007) ISSN: 0738-3991 [Print] Ireland
• PMID: 17010554 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Topics

• Activities of Daily Living
• Aged
• Chi-Square Distribution
• Disease Management
• Exercise Therapy (organization & administration)
• Fatigue (etiology, prevention & control)
• Female
• Health Services (statistics & numerical data)
• Hong Kong
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Muscle Weakness (etiology, prevention & control)
• Osteoarthritis, Knee (complications, prevention & control, psychology)
• Outcome Assessment, Health Care
• Pain (diagnosis, etiology, prevention & control)
• Pain Measurement
• Patient Education as Topic (organization & administration)
• Program Evaluation
• Range of Motion, Articular
• Self Care (methods, psychology)
• Self-Help Groups (organization & administration)
• Surveys and Questionnaires