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Self-management education remains low for US adults with arthritis
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The number of adults in the United States with arthritis who have participated in a self-management education has increased, but the percentage has remained low, according to published study results.
Louise B. Murphy, PhD, of the arthritis program in the division of population health at the CDC, and colleagues analyzed data from the 2014 National Health Interview Survey of adults with diagnosed arthritis. The researchers used the data to estimate the percentage of patients who ever attended a self-management education (SME) program overall. Representativeness of SME participants compared with all adults with arthritis and trends in SME course participation were measured for subgroups.
There were 1 in 9 U.S. adults in 2014 with arthritis (unadjusted prevalence = 11.3%; 95% CI, 10.4-12.3; age standardized prevalence = 11.4%; 95% CI, 10-12.9) who had ever participated in a SME program. Adults with arthritis who had at least eight health care provider visits in the prior 12 months had the highest age-standardized SME participation of 16% (95% CI, 13.1-19.4).
Although the number of adults with arthritis who participated in SME increased by 1.7 million since 2002, the percentage who participated remained constant during the period.
“These findings suggest that among adults with arthritis, those with (arthritis-attributable activity limitations) may be particularly receptive to SMEs and, therefore, are an appropriate target group for efforts to increase SME participation,” the researchers wrote. “The higher participation among those with (arthritis-attributable activity limitations) is probably because people with arthritis were most likely to take action when arthritis interferes with their daily life or routine or valued life activities.
“Recognizing the many potential beneifts of SMEs for people with arthritis and chronic conditions, we believe that our findings indicate the need for aggressive strategies to increase the percentage participating in SME,” the researchers concluded. – by Bruce Thiel
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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