Relationships between social background and medical care in osteoarthritis.

Arthritis is relatively more prevalent among those of low socioeconomic status and it is important that this group have access to good arthritis care. In our study looking at relationships between socioeconomic status and medical care, histories were obtained from a convenience sample of 110 community living elderly persons of varying social backgrounds who had symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and/or knee. Almost all subjects had seen a physician at some time for their OA, and low income and black subjects were twice as likely to be currently receiving OA care as others. However, in looking at instruction and monitoring in relation to therapeutic joint exercises as a qualitative aspect of medical care, subjects who had both above mean OA impairment and more than a high school education were found to have received much more comprehensive care than any other subgroup.