Evaluation of a clinic education program for patients with rheumatoid arthritis

A group education program was developed for clinic patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Teaching methods used included the Arthritis Foundation's handbook, Rheumatoid Arthritis, and a lecture by a rheumatologist. The 20 patients in the study were given a multiple choice test before and after the teaching program to determine their knowledge of arthritis. Results showed group education to be an effective teaching device. It was demonstrated that patients learned from reading the handbook alone, but the combination of reading and lecture was found to be a more effective method. Correlation studies showed that prior to group education, patients had a significant knowledge of their disease which was related to native intelligence, formal education, and socio-economic status, but not to duration of disease or length of clinic attendance. This suggests that future patient education experiments should include a pre-instruction test to document prior knowledge.