Osteoarthritis education changes desire for surgery: Study

A new study has shed light on the importance of educating patients about their treatment options for knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA), and the tangible impacts this can have.
 
Published this month, the study analysed Swedish data from 55,059 people – 69% of participants were female with a mean age of 66 years old and a mean body mass index of 27.5.
 
The study cohort included people from the Swedish Osteoarthritis Register who took part in a three-month education and exercise intervention for knee or hip OA.
 
This program included information about surgical options, delivered alongside an exercise program.
 
The study found that 70% of participants started and ended the program not wanting surgery, while 14% started and ended the program wanting surgery.
 
After the program, 10% decided they did not want surgery and 6% decided they did want surgery.

‘People who became unwilling for surgery had a 20% lower probability of having actual surgery by five years after the intervention, compared to those who were always willing for surgery, corresponding to delaying the procedure by 1.8 years,’ the researchers concluded.
 
‘Shifting willingness for joint replacement surgery in people with osteoarthritis could delay joint replacement surgery and lead to a reduction in the number of surgeries, potentially contributing to substantial economic savings.’
 
Significantly, the researchers found that peoples’ reported willingness for surgery at the close of the study period also correlated with how likely they were to have surgery in subsequent years, demonstrating the potential for lasting impacts from the intervention.
 
The study team suggest these findings can be used to inform clinical practice measures such as offering patient education to decrease the likelihood of joint replacement surgery or using patients’ reported willingness for surgery to predict who will go on to choose surgery over the next few years.
 
‘A simple question about willingness for surgery can be used as a proxy measure of progression to actual surgery in the short-medium term following an intervention,’ they said.
 
‘[This] could be used to help clinicians identify patients who may benefit from additional support to help them avoid or delay surgery in the future.
 
‘Other factors, such as having peers or family members who have had a joint replacement, interaction with a surgeon, and receiving a recommendation for surgery, may also play a role in willingness for surgery.’
 
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