Treatment Utilisation and Satisfaction With Management in Individuals With Osteoarthritis and Metabolic...

To compare treatment utilisation for osteoarthritis (OA) and satisfaction with OA management between individuals with and without comorbid metabolic conditions (e.g., diabetes, obesity, dyslipidaemia, hypertension).

Secondary analysis of a cross-sectional international survey study (Italy, Russia, Sweden) on people ≥ 40 years old with knee/hip OA. Metabolic comorbidity was self-reported. We used direct standardisation with prevalence ratios and mixed-effect models to estimate the associations between comorbidity with treatment utilisation and satisfaction (score 0-100).

We analysed 401 individuals (48% Sweden, 28% Italy, 24% Russia; 53% with ≥ 1 metabolic condition). Those with and without comorbid metabolic conditions showed similar prevalence for first-line interventions (exercise, education, and weight management). Metabolically unhealthy individuals showed higher use of opioids (prevalence ratio [95% CI] 1.9 [1.3-2.4]), antidepressants (1.8 [1.1-2.5]), corticosteroid injections (1.4 [1.0-1.8]), and homoeopathic products (2.1 [1.2-3.0]). Satisfaction with care (adjusted difference: -3.9 [95% CI: -8.5 to 2.4]) and information received about treatments (-4.0 [-9.7 to 1.7]) were similar.

While first-line OA interventions were similarly used, those with metabolic conditions relied more on second-line and non-recommended treatments, showing comparable satisfaction. More effort is needed to increase the adoption of lifestyle-focused treatments in OA and to minimise the use of less recommended options among individuals with metabolic comorbidities.