Ab1190 attitudes and beliefs regarding treatment in patients with osteoarthritis

Background Therapeutic decision is one of the essential procedures for coping with the disease, so adherence to treatment is one of the key elements of care, particularly in patients with degenerative musculoskeletal pathologies, in particular osteoarthritis. These attitudes can be influenced by beliefs about drugs, which will affect the care and quality of life of patients. Objectives The objective of this study is to assess beliefs about medications as well as associated factors in patients with osteoarthritis. Methods This is a cross-sectional study that included any patient ≥ 18 years of age followed for knee osteoarthritis or digital osteoarthritis who presents to the rheumatology department. We excludedpatients with psychiatric or memory disorders or who refused to participate in the study. Sociodemographic data, comorbidities, information on functional impact and treatments received were collected. A validated questionnaire: Belief on Medicine Questionnaire (BMQ) specific which allows to evaluate the beliefs of the patients related to the need and the concerns towards the drugs was used. The specific BMQ is made up of two subscales: the first includes questions related to the necessity for treatment, the second includes questions about concerns related to the prescription. Each of the sections is made up of five graduated scales from 1 (strong disagreement) to 5 (strong agreement). The specific BMQ is therefore rendered as two scores ranging from 5 to 25 and can be expressed as a need-concern differential ranging from −20 to +20, which is an equivalent of the benefit-risk ratio perceived by the patient. Results We have included 221 patients. The average age was 59.4+-9.8, 88.7% of patients were women. 70.6% of patients were illiterate. 62.1% of patients had comorbidities. 80.5% were followed for knee osteoarthritis and 19.5% for digital osteoarthritis. The median duration of evolution was 8 [2-10] years. For the treatments, 53.8% of the patients in our study were on anti-osteoarthritis treatment, 44.7% had already received an NSAID and 11.7% had already received an injection. The mean of the BMQ- specific necessity was 16.92+-6.33 and 52% of patients strongly believed that drugs are essential to keep them healthy. The average of the BMQ-specific concerns were 14.69+-5.69 The main concerns of patients were the lack of information about the medications they were taking in 45.9% and 38% of patients were concerned about the potentially harmful consequences of their treatment. The median need-concern differential was 2 [-3 - 8] suggesting a positive risk-benefit ratio perceived by the patients. In multivariate linear regression, only functional disability is statistically significantly associated with the need-concern differential (OR=0.24, 95% CI [0.204-0.817], p=0.001). Conclusion Moroccan osteoarthritis patients have a positive perception of the benefit-risk ratio towards their treatments. Functional disability is the main factor incriminated in this perception. Therapeutic education must take more place in the management of osteoarthritis patients. REFERENCES: NIL. Acknowledgements: NIL. Disclosure of Interests None Declared.