In a recently published article in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, Dr Samantha Bunzli explores some misconceptions that patients have about their knee osteoarthritis.
Sam’s paper titled, ‘Misconceptions and the acceptance of evidence-based non-surgical interventions for knee osteoarthritis. A qualitative study‘, highlighted a number of common beliefs that appear to influence patients’ willingness to pursue treatments such as exercise and weight loss.
By drawing on interviews with twenty-seven participants, the study showed that once patients believed that their knee OA was “bone-on-bone”, many were skeptical of exercise-based treatments. Many believed that exercise would further damage their joints. Because of this, patients favored experimental treatments, which they hoped would regenerate lost cartilage, over evidence-based nonsurgical interventions.
The paper also highlighted the need for future research to explore how widespread these beliefs are, and precisely how they impact patients’ treatment decisions. One of the important takeaways from the study was that clinicians who wish to encourage nonsurgical treatment should explore and target patients’ misconceptions about their disease. In particular, they should consider targeting beliefs about the identity,causes, consequences, timeline, and treatment of knee OA.
To find out more, you can find the complete publication here.