Less than 20% of adults with arthritis attend self-management classes
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A median of just 16.2% of adults with arthritis attended a self-management class in 2019, while that same year 69.3% received counseling for physical activity from their provider, according to CDC researchers.
Although self-management class attendance was low across all adults with arthritis, the researchers, who published their findings in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, additionally noted that men, those with a high school education or less, and those in small cities or rural areas demonstrated particularly low rates of attendance and physical activity counseling from providers.
“Arthritis is a common and disabling chronic condition among U.S. adults,” Lindsey M. Duca, PhD, of the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service and the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, told Healio Rheumatology. “Self-management education and physical activity can reduce arthritis pain and improve overall health status and quality of life of adults with arthritis.”
She added: “Health care providers play an important role in promoting self-management class attendance and physical activity by counseling arthritis patients about their benefits and referring them to evidence-based programs.”
To examine self-reported self-management class attendance and the receipt of physical activity counseling among adults with arthritis, Duca and colleagues analyzed data from the 2019 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). According to the researchers, BRFSS is an annual, cross-sectional, state-based telephone survey of noninstitutionalized U.S. adults. Participants with arthritis were identified through a survey question that asked, “Have you ever been told by a doctor or other health care professional that you have arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, lupus, or fibromyalgia?”
In all, there were 135,862 adults who reported having arthritis in the survey. The researchers defined self-management class attendance through a question on the survey that asked, “Have you ever taken an educational course or class to teach you how to manage problems related to your arthritis or joint symptoms?” Meanwhile, participants were found to have received physical activity counseling if they answered affirmatively to the question, “Has a doctor or other health professional ever suggested physical activity or exercise to help your arthritis or joint symptoms?”
According to the researchers, among adults with arthritis in 49 states — New Jersey was excluded from the 2019 BRFSS public-use data set for not having sufficient data — and Washington, D.C., an age-standardized state median of 16.2% reported ever attending a self-management class. Meanwhile, 69.3% reported ever being counseled by a provider to maintain physical activity.
Prevalence for both outcomes differed by state — ranging from 9.8% in Washington, D.C., to 24.9% in Hawaii — and sociodemographic characteristics. For example, the age-adjusted prevalence of self-management class attendance among men was 15.4%, compared with 17% among women.
Groups with attendance prevalence rates of less than 15% included those with a high school education or less (12.8%), the employed (14.8%), the unemployed (13.4%), students and homemakers (12.8%), those residing in small cities (14.5%) or rural areas (14.7%), those who were inactive in the last 30 days (12.9%), and those with no or mild joint pain (13.6%).
“Findings from this report show that fewer than two in 10 adults with arthritis reported ever attending a self-management class, and nearly 7 in 10 reported receiving health care provider counselling to encourage physical activity,” Duca said. “Persons with arthritis who received a health care provider recommendation to attend a self-management class were nine times more likely to attend a class than were those who did not receive a recommendation.
“Health care providers can reduce arthritis patients’ pain and improve their health status and quality of life by talking to patients about the benefits of physical activity and self-management education, and by supporting referrals to evidence-based programs,” she added. “Health care providers can talk with their arthritis patients about the benefits of physical activity and self-management education and support referrals to evidence-based arthritis appropriate programs.”
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