A prospective observational study to assess quality of life and prescription pattern in osteoarthritis patients at tertiary health centre in Mumbai.

ABSTRACT

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major cause of disability and is focused in "Bone and Joint Decade" declared by WHO which substantially affect different dimensions of quality of life. The aim of present study was to find the disease pattern in OA patients, monitoring prescription pattern to assess prognosis of osteoarthritis by WOMAC index. Materials and Methods: An observational study on prospective data collected for the evaluation of Quality of Life (QOL) in OA was conducted at tertiary health care centre in Mumbai. Patients with a diagnosis of OA were enrolled. The patient's history and clinical examination was based on classification criteria of the American College of Rheumatology; drugs prescribed were noted on case record form. Same procedure was carried out for the first and second follow-ups at 6 th and 12 th weeks respectively. Results: The patients belong to primary OA (84%) as compared to secondary OA (16%). Females (70.56% and 10%) were affected more commonly than males (13.44% and 6%). Knee Joint was worst affected in 76%, followed by hip joint in 16% and shoulder, ankle, wrist, elbow joint each having 2% (n=1) involvement. NSAIDs continued to dominate prescriptions given to 84% of patients followed by antiarthritic drugs and calcium supplements in 54% cases. The WOMAC score was higher in most of patients. After medication hydroxy chloroquine sulfate has shown maximum reduction in average WOMAC sore followed by paracetamol, indomethacin and diclofenac sodium. Conclusion: Osteoarthritis has a significant impact on quality of life, only partly ameliorated by anti-arthritic drugs, as assessed by the WOMAC scale in this study population. Further, a study with larger sample size is needed to further support our findings.