Quality of life in knee osteoarthritis

Abstract

Introduction. Knee osteoarthritis is the most common arthritic location and as the population ages, its prevalence rises dramatically and therefore the impact of its symptomatic form affects 240 in 100,000 individuals per annum. Objective. The goal of this study is to determine the impact of knee osteoarthritis on health-related quality of life. Materials and methods. Through the databases Medscape, PubMed, UpToDate, Embase and others, 50 scientific publications were selected. Results. Knee osteoarthritis has a major detrimental influence on overall health and quality of life. It limits the movement of patients in 80% of cases and 25% find themselves unable to perform day-to-day life activities. Its associated with pain, by difficulty in walking, climbing stairs, doing household chores or when sitting upright and this leads in the midst of a decrease in quality of life and a crucial psychological impact. Nonsurgical treatments do not reliably alter health-related quality of life in patients. Patients undergoing surgical therapies are generally satisfactory to excellent. Early results from clinical trials suggest less invasive joint unloading implants could help patients bridge the therapeutic gap between non-surgical and surgical treatments. Conclusions. Knee osteoarthritis has a significant detrimental influence on a patient’s daily activities as well as their expectations for treatment outcomes. To achieve an optimized socio-economic quality management in full view of the highest possible quality of life for the patient, continuous improvement of therapy and result-quality must remain suited to the patient and must involve the cost carrier in each individual case.