Making the current non-surgical treatments for knee osteoarthritis more effective: Solutions from a diverse patient group.

OBJECTIVE

To examine patient perceived solutions to barriers to effective non-surgical knee osteoarthritis (OA) treatments in a diverse racial/ethnic group.

METHODS

Nominal groups were conducted with consecutive patients with knee OA at a medical center clinic, oversampling for African Americans with knee OA. Participants discussed potential solutions and rank-ordered their concerns.

RESULTS

Thirteen nominal groups with 46 knee OA patients were conducted with mean age, 60.8 years (standard deviation [sd], 10.0) and knee OA duration, 8.1 years (sd, 5.4); 22% were men, and 56% were African American. The following solutions were in the top three ranked solutions in 13 NGTs: (A) more research, effective and/or safer new medications/treatments, and joint cartilage restoration (8 groups; 15% votes [43/276]); (B) early diagnosis (2 groups; 7% votes [20/276]); (C) better and more effective communication (5 groups; 10% votes [29/276]); (D) public and patient education (4 groups; 8% votes [22/276]); (E) motivation and behavioral modification (4 groups; 9% votes [26/276]); (F) team approach (1 group; 1% votes [2/276]); (G) personalized medicine (6 groups; 8% votes [24/276]); (H) cheaper and more affordable medications and treatments (3 groups; 5% votes [15/276]).

CONCLUSIONS

A diverse group of participants with knee OA identified several solutions to barriers to the effectiveness of current knee OA treatments. This new knowledge can inform the development and implementation of future interventions to improve the outcomes of people with knee OA.