{"id":9759,"date":"2021-04-13T07:00:33","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T06:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/?p=9759"},"modified":"2021-04-12T10:17:19","modified_gmt":"2021-04-12T09:17:19","slug":"theres-no-knowing-whats-known-about-osteoarthritis-yet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bjsm\/2021\/04\/13\/theres-no-knowing-whats-known-about-osteoarthritis-yet\/","title":{"rendered":"There\u2019s no knowing what\u2019s known about osteoarthritis (yet)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Knowledge empowers people to understand their health and make choices about how to manage it. For people who have osteoarthritis, knowledge and beliefs influence their physical activity levels, participation in social and leisure activities, support-seeking and management decisions, and their wellbeing.1 2<\/sup> Osteoarthritis has an enormous (and rising) burden on individuals and societies worldwide,3<\/sup> so it is vital that we develop effective interventions to reduce this burden.<\/p>\n

Education is core care for people who have osteoarthritis<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Enhancing knowledge through education represents a key opportunity to improve the health of people who have osteoarthritis. As a result, education to improve knowledge is core recommended care for people who have osteoarthritis.4<\/sup> People who receive new information about osteoarthritis report that this is empowering and can stimulate positive behaviour change.5<\/sup><\/p>\n

How do we know what people know about osteoarthritis?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently, we have no valid or reliable tools to measure people\u2019s osteoarthritis knowledge. This means that we cannot reliably tell when there\u2019s an opportunity to improve knowledge, nor can we test whether educational interventions enhance knowledge, nor can we explore whether improvements in health outcomes are mediated by changes in knowledge. This is an important gap that limits our ability to optimise osteoarthritis treatment.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Creating the OsteoArthritis Knowledge Scales (OAKS)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

International agreement about knowledge that is important for people who have hip or knee osteoarthritis6<\/sup> and subsequent qualitative interview work with people who have osteoarthritis7 8<\/sup> has provided the opportunity to develop new tools to measure osteoarthritis knowledge.<\/p>\n

An international team from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK has formed to develop osteoarthritis knowledge scales<\/a>. This team includes experts in osteoarthritis (lived experience, research, and clinical care), health beliefs, measurement and analysis. In addition to a person with lived experience being a member of the core research team, 28 research partners with lived experience of osteoarthritis from NZ, Australia, Canada, and the UK helped to develop the scale items.<\/p>\n

The new scales are called the Hip Osteoarthritis Knowledge Scale (HOAKS), and the Knee Osteoarthritis Knowledge Scale (KOAKS). These scales are now being tested through the Osteoarthritis Knowledge Survey<\/a>. You can read more about the scales\u2019 development and the survey in an open access publication<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A call to action \u2013 make sure your country is represented<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We want responses to the Osteoarthritis Knowledge Survey<\/a> from English-speaking people worldwide. The more diverse the participants, the better we can test whether the scales will perform well for people from different locations and backgrounds. Translations into other languages are already underway.<\/p>\n

We have had good responses from New Zealand and Australia, but fewer from other countries. Osteoarthritis is a global challenge to health, so we want to develop a tool that can test knowledge across cultures and locations. <\/strong><\/p>\n

We are challenging sports and exercise clinicians in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, India, Nigeria and South Africa to get your countries represented.<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Put a poster<\/a> up in your clinic<\/li>\n
  2. Send the survey link to patients and athletes who have hip or knee osteoarthritis – https:\/\/otago.au1.qualtrics.com\/jfe\/form\/SV_1CgOhNFLyn7MeHP<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Share this blog or information about the study with your networks (otago.ac.nz\/oaks<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Authors and Affiliations:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    By Ben Darlow (@BenD_NZ), on behalf of the OsteoArthritis Knowledge Scales (OAKS) team.<\/em><\/p>\n