Incorporating patient preferences into osteoarthritis treatment
Yeşim Gökçe Kutsal1
, Sibel Eyigör2, Sevilay Karahan3, Rezzan Günaydın4, Jale İrdesel5, Merih Sarıdoğan6, Pınar Borman7, Aylin Sarı8, Kutay Ordu Gökkaya9, Vildan Binay Safer10
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
2Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ege University, Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey
3Department of Biostatistics, Hacettepe University, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
4Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical Park Izmir Hospital, Izmir, Turkey
5Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Uludağ University, Faculty of Medicine, Bursa, Turkey
6Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Istanbul University Cerrahpaşa, Cerrahpaşa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey
7Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Health Ankara City Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
8Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Erenköy Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
9Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Health Gaziler Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey
10Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Sancaktepe Şehit Prof. Dr. Ilhan Varank Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey
Keywords: Medication, osteoarthritis, rehabilitation, treatment
Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to identify the relationship between treatment modalities and the patients’ preferences in osteoarthritis (OA) treatment and identify the related factors.
Patients and methods: This multi-center, cross-sectional study included a total of 305 patients with OA (66 males, 239 females; mean age: 66.4±9.7 years; range, 38 to 90 years) between July 2019 and January 2020. Data including demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded using a structured questionnaire.
Results: The mostly common involvement sites were knee joints, lumbar, and cervical regions, respectively. Prior to the study, the treatment modalities which were prescribed to patients were oral drugs (79.7%), topical drugs (73.8%), home-based exercise program (62.6%), and physical therapy (outpatient) (61.3%). Of the recommended remedy, 89.2% were prescribed by physiatrists, 24.6% by orthopedists, 5.6% by family practitioners, 2.6% by neurosurgeons, and 1.6% by algologists. The most beneficial treatments (to whom) were inpatient physical therapy program (47%), oral drugs (41%), home-based exercise programs (24.9%) according to patients’ perspective. According to patient preferences, nearly half of the patients preferred outpatient physical therapy program (45.9%), oral drugs (33.1%), inpatient physical therapy (20%), and home-based exercises (18%). The most common reasons for their preferences were previous benefits from treatment (54.4%), long-term effects (38%), easy access to treatment (33.1%) and concerns about side effects (28.9%). The mostly common reasons for their preferences were previous benefits from the treatment (54.4%), long-term positive effects of physical therapy (38%), easy access to the treatment (33.1%) and concerns about side effects of drugs (28.9%).
Conclusion: Besides medical regimen, the results of this study showed that the patients preferred outpatient and inpatient physical therapy modalities, and home-based exercises programs. In the light of these findings, initiation of a new prescription (e.g., drugs or physical therapy modalities) in OA patients, previous treatment modalities, and approaches are suggested to be carefully reviewed by the clinician to anticipate and improve the adherence behavior to the new treatment.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.