Evaluation of a community health practitioner self-care program for rural Korean patients with osteoarthritis

The purpose of this study was to evaluate a self-care program for elders with osteoarthritis managed by primary health care workers, Community Health Practitioners (CHPs), in rural Korea.

The self-care program, consisting of 7 areas, was evaluated with a randomized experimental study for patients over age 60 with osteoarthritis in which 150 participants in the experimental group and 140 in the control group were compared. The self-care program was implemented for six weeks, 2 hours per week, at community health posts by CHPs. Data were collected using an interview questionnaire given by the CHPs and laboratory tests before and after the intervention for both groups. Propensity score matching analysis was done to test effectiveness after controlling for confounding variables.

The intervention group showed a significant decrease in the number of painful joints (p<.001) and a significant increase in self-care ability (p<.05) compared to the control group.

Study results indicate that training and utilizing primary health care workers in rural areas is valuable in increasing the generalization and continuity of intervention programs. As arthritis should be managed life-long, CHP directed self-care programs are useful interventions for rural elders with arthritis to learn self-care management.