Osteoarthritis: National Clinical Guideline for Care and Management in Adults

Excerpt

This guideline applies to people with a working diagnosis of osteoarthritis who present for treatment or whose activities of daily living are significantly affected by their osteoarthritis. The management of neck or back pain related to degenerative changes in spine are not part of this guideline.

People presenting to health professionals with osteoarthritis complain of joint pain, they do not complain of radiological change. Thus, these guidelines are primarily about the management of older patients presenting for treatment of peripheral joint pain, treatment of the pain itself and of the consequences of such pain for patients who have a working diagnosis of osteoarthritis. The Guideline Development Group (GDG) recognised that many of the studies reviewed will have only included participants with symptomatic radiological osteoarthritis and that they are inferring any positive or negative treatment effects apply equally to those with or without radiological change.

The GDG considered the following to represent a clinician’s working diagnosis of peripheral joint osteoarthritis: persistent joint pain that is worse with use, age 45 years old and over, morning stiffness lasting no more than half an hour.