Education about joint protection helps hand osteoarthritis

Joint protection education from occupational therapists is an effective way of supporting older people with hand osteoarthritis and provides an effective treatment, says research published in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

More than 250 people aged over 50 years from GP surgeries in Cheshire and Staffordshire were split into four groups: joint protection; hand exercises; joint protection and hand exercises combined; and no joint protection or hand exercises. All groups were given written information on self-management techniques based on Arthritis Research UK booklets.

Those in the joint protection group received education on how to manage pain during everyday activities, changing habits and labour-saving gadgets and were asked to avoid lifting heavy objects. Home programmes allowed them to practise the skills they had been taught and they completed a weekly activity diary.

After six months, 33% of people who had received joint protection responded to treatment compared to 21% of those not receiving joint protection. But the response was not maintained over 12 months and hand exercises had no impact.

“We have produced clear evidence about the most clinically effective methods of delivering and supporting self-management at six months for older adults with hand osteoarthritis,” says Prof Krysia Dziedzic who was involved in the work. “We have shown that support for self-management, through a joint protection education programme delivered by occupational therapists, provides an effective approach.”

To read the original research visit http://ard.bmj.com/content/early/2013/10/09/annrheumdis-2013-203938.abstract?sid=81cbe3a4-ddb0-4433-935a-e6d8e3524ef2.