From individualised treatment goals to personalised rehabilitation in osteoarthritis: a longitudinal prospective mapping study using the WHO international classification for functioning, disability and health

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE(S)/INTRODUCTION: In clinical practice, treatment goals are often set up without exploring what patients really want. We, therefore, collected individualised treatment goals of patients with osteoarthritis (OA), categorised and mapped them to the World Health Organisation International Classification for Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). PATIENTS/MATERIALS AND METHODS: A longitudinal prospective cohort study was conducted (2019–2021). We used descriptive statistics and Chi(2)/Fisher’s Exact Tests, where appropriate, as well as Kruskal-Wallis-Tests for the mean score ranks of the patients’ goals. RESULTS: In total, 305 goals reported by 132 participants were analysed (267 women vs. 38 men). The top 3 ICF categories were sensation of pain (ICF:b280), mobility of joint (ICF:b710) and muscle power functions (ICF:b730). Overall, 51% of all individually reported functional goals were achieved after 3 months. Men were more likely to achieve their goals than women (p = 0.009). The majority of the “very important” goals (51%) and “very difficult” goals (57%) was not improved. Goals’ mean score ranks significantly differed between baseline and follow-up. CONCLUSION(S): As the human lifespan as well as the number of people affected by OA worldwide increase, there is a growing need to identify and evaluate rehabilitation outcomes that are relevant to people with OA. KEY MESSAGES: Treat-to-target agreements between patients and health care providers present a step towards more personalised precision medicine, which will eventually lead to better reported functional and health outcomes. In patients with osteoarthritis, the Goal Attainment Scale instrument can be used to measure health outcomes at different time points and its content may be linked to ICF providing a unified language and conceptual scientific basis.