Arthritis Clinical Trials

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common chronic conditions and a leading cause of pain and disability. Many patients with OA know very little about treatment options and are not well equipped to make informed decisions regarding these treatments. Further, there are racial and gender disparities in perceptions of the risks and benefits of total joint replacement, which also highlights the need to improve facilitation of informed treatment choices in these patients. Decision aids have great potential to improve patient satisfaction, safety, and outcomes for patients with OA, but there is no evidence base regarding best formats for delivering this information. This project will compare patient decision-making outcomes immediately following viewing of DVD and web-based versions of the Health Dialog DAs for hip and knee OA, as well as three days and one month later. Patients with symptomatic knee and hip OA (n=200) will be enrolled from a primary care and orthopedic clinics. Participants will be randomized, with stratification according to health literacy level, to view the DVD or web-based DA. Outcomes will include: Knowledge about OA and Treatments, Decisional Conflict, Preparation for Decision-Making, Decision Self-Efficacy, Stage of Decision Making, Acceptability and Usability of the DA, and home use of the DA. This project will make a novel contribution with direct clinical applicability, providing information regarding best methods for disseminating tools to enhance informed decision-making among patients with hip and knee OA, with particular attention to patients with low literacy.