Responders to first-line osteoarthritis treatment had reduced frequency of hip and knee joint replacements within 5 years: an observational register-based study of 44,311 patients.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: First-line treatment (education, exercise) for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA) aims to reduce pain and improve function. We aimed to compare progression to joint replacement within 5 years between responders and non-responders to first-line treatment for hip and knee OA, respectively. METHODS: This observational study included data for 30,524 knee OA and 13,787 hip OA patients from the Swedish Osteoarthritis Register, linked with the Swedish Arthroplasty Register, Statistics Sweden, and the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register. The primary prognostic factor was change in pain between baseline and 3-month follow-up, measured on a numeric rating scale (0-10, best to worst) where an improvement of ≥ 2 was classified as responder and ≤ 1 as non-responder. The main outcome was progression to joint replacement surgery within 5 years, assessed using baseline adjusted multivariable Cox regression analyses. RESULTS: At 5 years, in hip OA, 35% (95% confidence interval [CI] 32.2-37.2) of the responders and 48% (CI 45.9-49.5) of the non-responders and in knee OA 14% (CI 13.0-15.3) of the responders and 20% (CI 18.8-20.8) of the non-responders had progressed to joint replacement. Being a responder to the treatment was associated with having a lower probability of progression to surgery for both hip OA (hazard ratio [HR] 0.4, CI 0.4-0.5) and knee OA (HR 0.6, CI 0.5-0.6). CONCLUSION: Patients with hip or knee OA who experienced pain relief after a first-line OA treatment program were less likely to progress to joint replacement surgery.

The coexistence of diabetes, hypertension and obesity is associated with worse pain outcomes following exercise for osteoarthritis: A cohort study on 80,893 patients.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate how the co-occurrence of diabetes, hypertension and overweight/obesity is associated with pain following an exercise intervention for knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: Register-based cohort study. We included people from the Swedish Osteoarthritis Register who underwent education and exercise for knee or hip OA. Diabetes and hypertension were defined using medical records and dispensation of medication. Body Mass Index (BMI) was used to identify people with overweight (≥25 to <30), and obesity (≥30). We used linear mixed-effect models with patients nested into clinics to estimate the associations between the exposures and pain (Numeric Rating Scale 0-10), adjusting for age, sex, education, and physical activity. RESULTS: We analysed 80,893 patients with knee or hip OA. The accumulation of metabolic conditions was associated with worse pain at baseline and follow-ups. When obesity, hypertension and diabetes coexisted, patients treated for knee OA reported more pain at baseline (adjusted mean pain difference 0.9 [95 %CI: 0.8; 1.0]), 3 months (1.0 [0.9; 1.1]) and 12 months (1.3 [1.1; 1.4]) compared to those without any of the conditions. Similar results were observed for patients treated for hip OA when obesity, hypertension and diabetes coexisted (baseline (0.7 [0.5; 0.8], 3 (0.8[0.6; 1.0]) and 12 months (1.1[0.8; 1.3]). CONCLUSIONS: When diabetes, hypertension and obesity coexist with OA, patients not only experience heightened baseline pain compared to metabolically healthy individuals, but the disparity increases after an education and exercise intervention suggesting that a one-size-fits-all approach may be inadequate in addressing the complex interplay between metabolic health and OA.

Income-Related Inequality Changes in Osteoarthritis First-Line Interventions: A Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine income-related inequality changes in the outcomes of an osteoarthritis (OA) first-line intervention. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Swedish health care system. PARTICIPANTS: We included 115,403 people (age: 66.2±9.7 years; females 67.8%; N=115,403) with knee (67.8%) or hip OA (32.4%) recorded in the "Swedish Osteoarthritis Registry" (SOAR). INTERVENTIONS: Exercise and education. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Erreygers' concentration index (E) measured income-related inequalities in "Pain intensity," "Self-efficacy," "Use of NSAIDs," and "Desire for surgery" at baseline, 3-month, and 12-month follow-ups and their differences over time. E-values range from -1 to +1 if the health variables are more concentrated among people with lower or higher income. Zero represents perfect equality. We used entropy balancing to address demographic and outcome imbalances and bootstrap replications to estimate confidence intervals for E differences over time. RESULTS: Comparing baseline to 3 months, "pain" concentrated more among individuals with lower income initially (E=-0.027), intensifying at 3 months (difference with baseline: E=-0.011 [95% CI: -0.014; -0.008]). Similarly, the "Desire for surgery" concentrated more among individuals with lower income initially (E=-0.009), intensifying at 3 months (difference with baseline: E=-0.012 [-0.018; -0.005]). Conversely, "Self-efficacy" concentrated more among individuals with higher income initially (E=0.058), intensifying at 3 months (difference with baseline: E=0.008 [0.004; 0.012]). Lastly, the "Use of NSAIDs" concentrated more among individuals with higher income initially (E=0.068) but narrowed at 3 months (difference with baseline: E=-0.029 [-0.038; -0.021]). Comparing baseline with 12 months, "pain" concentrated more among individuals with lower income initially (E=-0.024), intensifying at 12 months (difference with baseline: E=-0.017 [-0.022; -0.012]). Similarly, the "Desire for surgery" concentrated more among individuals with lower income initially (E=-0.016), intensifying at 12 months (difference with baseline: E=-0.012 [-0.022; -0.002]). Conversely, "Self-efficacy" concentrated more among individuals with higher income initially (E=0.059), intensifying at 12 months (difference with baseline: E=0.016 [0.011; 0.021]). The variable 'Use of NSAIDs' was not recorded in the SOAR at 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSION: Our results highlight the increase of income-related inequalities in the SOAR over time.

Factors Associated With Adherence to a Supervised Exercise Intervention for Osteoarthritis: Data From the Swedish Osteoarthritis Registry.

OBJECTIVE: To explore how lifestyle and demographic, socioeconomic, and disease-related factors are associated with supervised exercise adherence in an osteoarthritis (OA) management program and the ability of these factors to explain exercise adherence. METHODS: A cohort register-based study on participants from the Swedish Osteoarthritis Registry who attended the exercise part of a nationwide Swedish OA management program. We ran a multinomial logistic regression to determine the association of exercise adherence with the abovementioned factors. We calculated their ability to explain exercise adherence with the McFadden R2 . RESULTS: Our sample comprises 19,750 participants (73% female, mean ± SD age 67 ± 8.9 years). Among them, 5,862 (30%) reached a low level of adherence, 3,947 (20%) a medium level, and 9,941 (50%) a high level. After a listwise deletion, the analysis was run on 16,685 participants (85%), with low levels of adherence as the reference category. Some factors were positively associated with high levels of adherence, such as older age (relative risk ratio [RRR] 1.01 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.01-1.02] per year), and the arthritis-specific self-efficacy (RRR 1.04 [95% CI 1.02-1.07] per 10-point increase). Others were negatively associated with high levels of adherence, such as female sex (RRR 0.82 [95% CI 0.75-0.89]), having a medium (RRR 0.89 [95% CI 0.81-0.98] or a high level of education (RRR 0.84 [95% CI 0.76-0.94]). Nevertheless, the investigating factors could explain 1% of the variability in exercise adherence (R2 = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Despite the associations reported above, the poorly explained variability suggests that strategies based on lifestyle and demographic, socioeconomic, and disease-related factors are unlikely to improve exercise adherence significantly.

Factors associated with clinically relevant pain reduction after a self-management program including education and exercise for people with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis: Data from the BOA register.

AIM: To examine the associations between individual- and disease-related factors and the odds of reaching a clinically relevant pain reduction in people with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis (OA) who underwent a first-line self-management program. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An observational registry-based study including people with knee (n = 18,871) and hip (n = 7,767) OA who participated in a self-management program including education and exercise and had data recorded in the Better Management of patients with Osteoarthritis (BOA) register. We used multivariable logistic regression models to study the association between sex, age, body mass index (BMI), education, comorbidity, pain frequency, walking difficulties, willingness to undergo surgery and the odds of reaching a clinically relevant pain reduction (decrease of >33% on a 0-10 NRS scale) 3 and 12 months after the intervention. All analyses were stratified by joint (knee/hip). RESULTS: Both in the short- and long-term follow-up, a younger age (18-65 years), a lower BMI (< 25), a higher level of education (university), the absence of comorbidities impacting the ability to walk, less frequent pain and not being willing to undergo surgery were associated with higher odds of reaching a clinically relevant pain reduction in people with knee OA. We found similar results for people with hip OA, but with larger uncertainty in the estimates (wider 95% CI). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that early fist line self-management interventions delivered when people have unilateral hip or knee OA with less frequent pain and are unwilling to undergo surgery, may be important for reaching a clinically relevant pain reduction after participation. Providing the most appropriate treatment to the right patient at the right time is a step in reducing the burden of OA for society and the patient.

Comparison of Face-to-Face vs Digital Delivery of an Osteoarthritis Treatment Program for Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis.

Importance: Digital care platforms have been introduced, but there is limited evidence for their efficacy compared with traditional face-to-face treatment modalities. Objective: To compare mean pain reduction among individuals with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee or hip who underwent face-to-face vs digital first-line intervention. Design, Setting, and Participants: This registry-based cohort study included all persons with knee or hip osteoarthritis who participated in structured first-line treatment for osteoarthritis in a primary care setting in Sweden. Inclusion criteria were as follows: the treatment was delivered face-to-face or digitally between April 1, 2018, and December 31, 2019; patients provided 3-month follow-up data for pain; and patients had program adherence of at least 80%. Data analysis was conducted in March 2021. Exposures: Participants completed a 3-month intervention, including education and exercise for hip or knee osteoarthritis, with program adherence of 80% or higher, delivered face-to-face or by a digital application. Main Outcomes and Measures: Difference in change in joint pain (11-point numeric rating scale, with 0 indicating no pain and 10, the worst possible pain) between baseline and 3-month follow-up between the 2 intervention modalities. A minimal clinically important difference in pain change between groups was predefined as 1 point. Secondary outcomes were walking difficulties, health-related quality of life, willingness to undergo joint surgery, and fear avoidance behavior. Results: A total of 6946 participants (mean [SD] age, 67 [9] years; 4952 [71%] women; 4424 [64%] knee OA; 2504 [36%] hip OA) were included, with 4237 (61%) receiving face-to-face treatment and 2709 (39%) receiving digital treatment. Both the face-to-face (mean change, -1.10 [95% CI -1.17 to -1.02] points) and digital interventions (mean change, -1.87 [95% CI, -1.94 to -1.79] points) resulted in a clinically important pain reduction at 3 months. Participants in the digitally delivered intervention experienced a larger estimated improvement at 3 months (adjusted mean difference, -0.93 [95% CI, -1.04 to -0.81] points). Results of secondary outcomes were broadly consistent with main outcome. Conclusions and Relevance: This Swedish national registry-based cohort study showed that people with knee or hip OA participating in first-line intervention experienced clinically relevant improvements in pain, whether delivered face-to-face or digitally. The increased benefit of digital delivery compared with face-to-face delivery was of uncertain clinical importance.

Willingness to Undergo Joint Surgery Following a First-Line Intervention for Osteoarthritis: Data From the Better Management of People With Osteoarthritis Register.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the proportion of participants reconsidering their willingness to undergo surgery after 3 and 12 months. Secondary aims were to analyze and compare the characteristics of individuals willing and unwilling to undergo joint surgery for osteoarthritis (OA) before a first-line intervention, and to study the association between pain intensity, walking difficulties, self-efficacy, and fear of movement with the willingness to undergo surgery. METHODS: This was an observational study based on Swedish register data. We included 30,578 individuals with knee or hip OA who participated in a first-line intervention including education and exercise. RESULTS: Individuals willing to undergo surgery at baseline showed a higher proportion of men (40% versus 27%) and more severe symptoms and disability. Respectively, 45% and 30% of the individuals with knee and hip OA who were willing to undergo surgery at baseline became unwilling after the intervention. At the end of the study period (12 months), 35% and 19% of those with knee and hip OA, respectively, who were willing to undergo surgery at baseline became unwilling. High pain intensity, walking difficulties, and fear of movement were associated with higher odds of being willing to undergo surgery at both follow-ups, while increased self-efficacy showed the opposite association. CONCLUSION: A first-line intervention for OA is associated with reduced willingness to undergo surgery, with a greater proportion among patients with knee OA than hip OA. Due to its temporal variability, willingness to undergo surgery should be used with care to deem surgery eligibility.

Factors Associated With the Outcome of a First-Line Intervention for Patients With Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis or Both: Data From the BOA Register.

OBJECTIVE: This study explored the association of patients' demographics, health status, symptom severity, previous osteoarthritis (OA) care, and psychological status with the change in pain severity following a first-line intervention including education and exercise for OA provided nationwide in Swedish primary care. METHODS: This register-based cohort study included 23,309 people with knee or hip OA from the Better Management of Patients with OA register. Linear regression models were used to assess the association of independent variables with the change in pain from baseline to 3 and 12 months. All the analyses were stratified based on the affected joint (hip vs knee). RESULTS: In people with hip and people with knee OA, high levels of baseline pain were associated with decreased pain at both follow-ups (3 months: knee B = -.67; hip B = -.64; 12 months: knee B = -.70; hip B = -.66), whereas being older, overweight, or female had a weak or no association. Finally, at both follow-ups, bilateral OA was associated with increased pain only in people with knee OA, whereas comorbidities and the willingness to undergo surgery were associated with increased pain regardless of the affected joint. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline pain showed the strongest association among the analyzed variables, whereas sex, age, and body mass index appear to be weakly associated with the pain change after a first-line intervention. Comorbidities and willingness to undergo surgery showed a potentially important association and may have a negative impact on the pain change following a first-line intervention. IMPACT: In people with hip or knee OA, age, sex, body mass index, and previous surgery are only weakly associated with the change in pain after a first-line intervention supporting the evidence recommending exercise and education as a foundation for all OA therapy. Having comorbidities and being willing to undergo surgery is associated with a worse outcome from a first-line intervention, including exercise and education. Individualized treatments addressing the disease perception and the specific comorbidity profile may improve the outcomes.

Education, Home Exercise, and Supervised Exercise for People With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis As Part of a Nationwide Implementation Program: Data From the Better Management of Patients With Osteoarthritis Registry.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effectiveness of education (ED) plus home exercise (HE) and ED plus supervised exercise (SE) according to information provided by the Better Management of Patients With Osteoarthritis (BOA) Registry, a nationally implemented rehabilitation program for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). In addition, we investigated whether or not the effect of the treatments differed based on the joint affected by OA (hip versus knee). METHODS: We included 38,030 participants from the BOA Registry with knee or hip OA who were treated with either ED, HE, or SE. The effect of the 3 treatment options on the pain intensity reduction (range 0-10) immediately postintervention and at 12 months was estimated using a mixed-effects model adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, affected joint (hip or knee), pain at baseline, comorbidity, and level of education. RESULTS: The participants undergoing HE or SE experienced a greater pain reduction compared to participants who received ED, both after the treatment (group mean change for ED -0.91 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) -1.15, -0.68], for HE -1.06 [95% CI -1.10, -1.01], and for SE -1.12 [95% CI -1.15, -1.08]) and at 12 months (group mean change for ED -0.58 [95% CI -0.87, -0.30], for HE -0.82 [95% CI -0.87, -0.76], and for SE -0.82 [95% CI -0.86, -0.77]). Patients with knee OA who underwent HE or SE improved more compared to patients with hip OA at both follow-ups. CONCLUSION: In primary care, HE and SE lead to similar reductions in pain intensity but are more effective than ED alone. In addition, people with knee OA benefit more from HE and SE than people with hip OA.

The Better Management of Patients with Osteoarthritis Program: Outcomes after evidence-based education and exercise delivered nationwide in Sweden.

We evaluated a structured education- and exercise-based self-management program for patients with knee or hip osteoarthritis (OA), using a registry-based study of data from 44,634 patients taken from the Swedish "Better Management of Patients with Osteoarthritis" registry. Outcome measures included a numeric rating scale (NRS), EuroQol five dimension scale (EQ-5D), Arthritis self-efficacy scale (ASES-pain and ASES-other symptoms), pain frequency, any use of OA medication, desire for surgery, fear-avoidance behavior, physical activity, and sick leave were reported at baseline, 3 and 12 month. Changes in scale variables were analyzed using general linear models for repeated measures and changes in binary variables by McNamara's test. All analyses were stratified by joint. At the 3-month follow-up, patients with knee (n = 30686) and hip (n = 13948) OA reported significant improvements in the NRS-pain, the EQ-5D index, the ASES-other symptoms, and ASES-pain scores with standardized effect size (ES) ranges for patients with knee OA of 0.25-0.57 and hip OA of 0.15-0.39. Significantly fewer patients reported pain more than once weekly, took OA medication, desired surgery, showed fear-avoidance behavior, and were physically inactive. At the 12-month follow-up, patients with knee (n = 21647) and hip (n = 8898) OA reported significant improvements in NRS-pain, EQ-5D index, and a decrease in ASES-other symptoms and ASES-pain scores with an ES for patients with knee OA of -0.04 to 0.43 and hip OA of -0.18 to 0.22. Significantly fewer patients reported daily pain, desired surgery (for hip OA), reported fear-avoidance behavior, and reported sick leave. Following these interventions, patients with knee and hip OA experienced significant reductions in symptoms and decreased willingness to undergo surgery, while using less OA medication and taking less sick leave. The results indicate that offering this program as the first-line treatment for OA patients may reduce the burden of this disease.

The effect of education and supervised exercise on physical activity, pain, quality of life and self-efficacy - an intervention study with a reference group.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA) are less physically active than people in general, and many of these individuals have adopted a sedentary lifestyle. In this study we evaluate the outcome of education and supervised exercise on the level of physical activity in individuals with knee or hip OA. We also evaluate the effect on pain, quality of life and self-efficacy. METHODS: Of the 264 included individuals with knee or hip OA, 195 were allocated to the intervention group. The intervention group received education and supervised exercise that comprised information delivered by a physiotherapist and individually adapted exercises. The reference group consisted of 69 individuals with knee or hip OA awaiting joint replacement and receiving standard care. The primary outcome was physical activity (as measured with an accelerometer). The secondary outcomes were pain (Visual Analog Scale), quality of life (EQ-5D), and self-efficacy (Arthritis Self-Efficacy Scale, pain and other symptoms subscales). Participants in both groups were evaluated at baseline and after 3 months. The intervention group was also evaluated after 12 months. RESULTS: No differences were found in the number of minutes spent in sedentary or in physical activity between the intervention and reference groups when comparing the baseline and 3 month follow-up. However, there was a significant difference in mean change (mean diff; 95% CI; significance) between the intervention group and reference group favoring the intervention group with regard to pain (13; 7 to 19; p < 0.001), quality of life (- 0.17; - 0.24 to - 0.10; p < 0.001), self-efficacy/other symptoms (- 5; - 10 to - 0.3; p < 0.04), and self-efficacy/pain (- 7; - 13 to - 2; p < 0.01). Improvements in pain and quality of life in the intervention group persisted at the 12-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in an education and exercise program following the Swedish BOA program neither decreased the average amount of sedentary time nor increased the level of physical activity. However, participation in such a program resulted in decreased pain, increased quality of life, and increased self-efficacy. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov. Registration number: NCT02022566 . Retrospectively registered 12/18/2013.