Patient and Provider Interventions for Managing Osteoarthritis in Primary Care

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common chronic conditions and a leading cause of disability among veterans. Many veterans with OA have significant pain and functional limitations, even though they receive some medical care for their OA. Efforts are needed to help veterans to improve OA-related outcomes. This study will examine a comprehensive approach to helping veterans manage their OA-related symptoms, in the context of a VA clinical setting. The study examines an intervention aimed at helping veterans with behaviors that are known to improve OA-related pain and function (such as exercise, weight management, and coping with pain), as well as helping providers to implement evidence-based recommendations for clinical care. The intervention is relatively low cost and easy to disseminate, with the patient component being telephone based. Therefore, if effective, this intervention could be implemented widely across the VA healthcare system.