The Effect of Including Exercise in an Education Program 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 and exercise as a core treatment for osteoarthritis.

Since 1994, Primary Health Care in Malmö has used a patient education programme directed towards OA.The program does not include exercise. In 2007-09 a study was made to investigate this education program.The study showed improvements in self-perceived health and in a few functional tests but not in self-efficacy.