Abstract
Etiology, epidemiology, and impact of osteoarthritis on an individual, society, and nation and the main principles of management of this disease are reviewed in the article. Treatment should be tailored to the needs of an individual patient. Physicians should be familiar with pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic treatment modalities to maximize effective utilization and a thorough understanding of short- and long-term complications and costs. Severity of osteoarthritis should be taken into physician's and patient's consideration while applying an appropriate treatment. A stepwise management of osteoarthritis has to be taken into account. As effective interventions remain underused, state arthritis programs, including osteoarthritis programs, have to be developed to build an appropriate scientific base in public health, observe burden and impact, assess and disseminate evidence-based interventions, and work to reduce and delay disability, and improve quality of life among people with arthritis. Adequate studies on the costs of osteoarthritis are urgently required so that cogent arguments can be made to governments to appropriately fund prevention and treatment programs for this condition. Its recognition as a major cause of disability, particularly in the aging population, should increase community focus on this important condition. Osteoarthritis as a pathogenic process and its impact on an individual and society should be taken into special consideration by health providers and officers developing the national health policy in Lithuania, because there is a lack of information related to the prevalence of osteoarthritis, risk factors, also osteoarthritis-associated disability, and costs of the management of this disease among Lithuanian inhabitants.
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent form of arthritis presenting as a major source of disability in developed countries
The data of the Osteoarthritis Southern Italy Study (OASIS) involving 1782 patients in Italy demonstrated that hip OA had an important correlation with weight, genetic factors, sex, previous traumas, occupational factors, and age
This study showed that OA-related disability had a significant impact on the retired as well as on those still involved in the labor market [37]
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most prevalent form of arthritis presenting as a major source of disability in developed countries. Definition OA, called a degenerative joint disease, is the clinical and pathological outcome of a range of disorders that results in structural and functional failure of synovial joints It is primarily a disease of the cartilage that leads to a local tissue response, usually consisting of inflammation, and to mechanical changes that culminate in the failure of these structures to function normally; the entire joint organ, including the subchondral bone, menisci, ligaments, periarticular muscle, capsule, and synovium is involved in pathological process [2, 6]. The data of the Osteoarthritis Southern Italy Study (OASIS) involving 1782 patients in Italy demonstrated that hip OA had an important correlation with weight, genetic factors, sex, previous traumas, occupational factors, and age. Similar results were obtained assessing the data of a case-control study among 101 women in Japan, and later these results were compared to the findings of
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