Abstract for: Analysis of Effects of Patient Education on Early Stage Osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is among the most prevalent forms of physical disability in the US and the number of Total Knee Arthroplasties (TKA) performed each year has been growing rapidly. Surgery is expensive and requires extensive recovery. Optimally, patients make sufficient lifestyle changes in the early stages of the disease to prevent surgery. This study attempts to understand lifestyle changes for KOA patients and identify the challenges limiting their success. We believe that by providing better education on the disease and treatments early in the process, patients will find more success in implementing lifestyle change. By utilizing group model building sessions we will create models to understand feedback mechanisms and simulate the system. Finally, we will perform counter-factual analysis of different educational methods to make policy recommendations to providers about how to educate patients on this disease. This submission is a work in progress. We have received feedback from orthopedic surgeons indicating that there is very little educational given to patients during the early stages of the disease, but they receive significant information before TKA surgery. Lifestyle changes have a very positive impact on patients and can allow patients to manage symptoms fully. We believe that better educational materials during the early stages of the disease will lead to better outcomes. This is supported by our interactions with medical professionals and we will continue investigating this hypothesis as our research progresses.