A Web-Based Platform for Patients With Osteoarthritis of the Hip and Knee: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND: Chronic conditions are the leading cause of disability throughout the world and the most expensive problem facing the health care systems. One such chronic condition is osteoarthritis (OA), a frequent cause of major disability. OBJECTIVE: To describe the effect on joint pain for the first users of a newly developed Web-based osteoarthritis self-managing program, Joint Academy, and to examine whether these patients would recommend other OA patients to use the program. METHODS: Patients with clinically established knee or hip OA according to national and international guidelines were recruited from an online advertisement. A trained physiotherapist screened the eligible patients by scrutinizing their answers to a standardized questionnaire. The 6-week program consisted of eight 2- to 5-minute videos with lectures about OA, effects of physical activity, self-management, and coping strategies. In addition, exercises to improve lower extremity physical function were introduced in daily video activities. During the course of the program, communication between physiotherapist and patients was based on an asynchronous chat. After 6 weeks, patients were able to continue without support from the physiotherapist. Patients reported their current pain weekly by using a numeric rating scale (range 0-10; 0=no pain, 10=worst possible pain) as long as they were in the program. In addition, after 6 weeks patients answered the question “What is the probability that you would recommend Joint Academy to a friend?” RESULTS: The eligible cohort consisted of 53 individuals (39 women; body mass index: mean 27, SD 5; age: mean 57, SD 14 years). With the continued use of the program, patients reported a constant change in pain score from mean 5.1 (SD 2.1) at baseline to mean 3.6 (SD 2.0) at week 12. Six patients participated for 30 weeks (mean 3.2, SD 2.1). Overall, the patients would highly recommend Joint Academy to other OA patients, suggesting that the platform may be useful for at least some in the vast OA population. CONCLUSIONS: Joint Academy, a Web-based platform for OA therapy, has the potential to successfully deliver individualized online treatment to many patients with OA that presently lack access to treatment.