Thesis (Ph.D)-Cairo University, 2024.

Bibliography: pages 120-140.

Background: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, the most prevalent form of arthritis, affecting an estimated 302 million people worldwide. It is the fastest growing cause of disability driven by an increasingly older population and the growing incidence of obesity. Lifestyle changes are gaining increasing recognition in the management of osteoarthritis. In most guide-lines advice on education, exercise, and dietary weight management are now given priority over pharmacological therapies regardless of disease severity and co-morbidity.
Objectives:
1. To assess risk factors, quality of life, severity of knee osteoarthritis, knowledge, attitude and practices among knee osteoarthritis patients.
2. To determine the relation between inflammatory biomarker IL-6 and severity of osteoarthritis.
3. To evaluate the effect of combined intervention of health, nutritional education and home-based exercise on severity of knee OA, patients' quality of life, knowledge, attitude and practice and IL-6.
Methods: A prospective interventional study was done, where 180 KOA patients were consecutively recruited from the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic at the National Research Centre. The patients were followed up for 6 months and reassessed after health education sessions and home-based exercise intervention using WOMAC, OAKHQOL, and KAP questionnaires.
Results: More than half of the participants were between 51-60 years old (53.3%), 72.2% of them were females. Most of the participants had a university degree (40.6%) and 80.6% them worked in the administrative jobs. The mean of the BMI was 34.6±7.3. There was a highly significant improvement among KOA patients with a significant decrease in the total mean WOMAC score and increase in the total median OAKHQOL score and their domains after the intervention compared to the baseline score, p<0.001. A significant improvement in the total-knowledge score among the studied KOA patients was found, p<0.001.
Conclusion: The severity of KOA symptoms, quality of life, and patients’ knowledge regarding KOA had statistically improved after health education and home-based exercise program intervention

يعتبر التهاب المفاصل من أكثر الأمراض انتشارا حيث يؤثر على ما يقدر بنحو 302 مليون شخص في جميع أنحاء العالم. وهو عبارة عن تدهور في حالة المفصل ككل بما في ذلك تدهور الغضاريف، وتغيير في شكل العظام، وظهور نتؤات عظمية، والالتهاب الزليلي مما يؤدي إلى فقدان وظيفة المفصل الطبيعية.
يعتبر نمط الحياة الصحي عامل مهم في علاج مرض التهاب المفاصل ولذلك فإن معظم الإرشادات الصحية تنصح بممارسة الرياضة والتحكم فى الوزن وتعتبرهما علاجا أكثر أهمية من العلاجات الدوائية بغض النظر عن شدة المرض والأمراض المتزامنة معه. إن العلاج بممارسة الرياضة يعد واحدا من أهم العلاجات الغير دوائية وهو طريقة آمنة ومنخفضة التكلفة لعلاج التهاب المفاصل والذى ثبت أن له دور فى تأخير تطور المرض، وتخفيف الألم، وتحسين وظيفة الركبة عن طريق تقوية العضلات وتحسين التحكم العصبي العضلي ونطاق حركة المفصل في الركبة المصابة.

Issues also as CD.

Text in English and abstract in Arabic & English.