A grounded patient-centered approach generated the personal and societal burden of osteoarthritis model

To develop a conceptual model to describe the burden of osteoarthritis in individuals with this condition and on the broader community.

Six concept mapping workshops were undertaken: three with patients (n = 26) and three with health professionals (n = 27) in Australia and Sweden. The participants were asked to generate statements describing how osteoarthritis affects individuals with this condition and those around them. The results were used to construct an integrated theoretical model of the personal burden of osteoarthritis (PBO) and its extended version, the personal and societal burden of osteoarthritis (PSBO) model.

We identified eight potentially independent aspects of PBO, including physical distress, fatigue, physical limitations, psychosocial distress, physical deconditioning, financial hardship, sleep disturbances, and lost productivity. Physical distress and impaired physical function combined to produce psychosocial problems, reduced work productivity, financial difficulties, and loss of physical fitness at the individual level, and increased health and welfare cost at the societal level.

The PBO and PSBO models were developed directly from the views of patients and clinicians and provide new insights for managing the individual and societal burden of osteoarthritis.