Explaining osteoarthritis: development and implementation of a multimedia Patient Explanation Package (PEP-OA)

Grant number: NIHRDH-PB-PG-0817-20031. Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common, debilitating and painful condition, particularly when patients move the affected joint. Core-management approaches (exercise and weight control) reduce pain and improve function, but exercise-induced pain creates anxiety and confusion about such self-management. Common, unhelpful, misconceptions about OA exist and currently professionals do not have the language to explain OA in a way that reflects current scientific understanding. The overarching aim of the project is to improve OA explanations through the development and implementation of a multimedia Patient Explanation Package (PEP-OA). A partial-profile conjoint analysis study with patients will estimate the extent to which new, prioritised, explanation statements are preferred over currently used/available statements. Suitable OA explanations identified in this study will be used in the further development of the multimedia package. The corresponding work package requires the development of an efficient experimental design for the choice experiment which will be carried out at the University of Magdeburg.