Therapeutic Education as Adjuvant Therapy in Rehabilitation of Elderly with Osteoarthritis

AbstractThe aim of the study was to assess the effects of an educational program on the course of osteoarthritis in elderly. A number of 40 elderly with osteoarthritis were randomized into two groups: an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received both pharmacological treatment and the educational program for self-management of the disease, while the other group received only the medical therapy. The evolutivity of the disease was assessed after one year. The experimental group showed a significant improvement of all investigated variables, the evolution of the disease being more favourable compared with the control group (p