Thumb Carpometacarpal Osteoarthritis : Prediction, rehabilitation and contextual effects

This thesis has three main aims. The first aim is to study treatment outcome after exercise therapy and hand orthosis and its relationship with surgery (Part 1). The second aim is to study different components and phases of postoperative rehabilitation for patients who underwent CMC arthroplasty, and to study if different immobilization protocols result in different outcomes (Part 2). The last aim is to study to what extent psychological factors play a role in the experienced pain and disability in patients with thumb CMC osteoarthritis, and to study if patients’ experience with healthcare delivery is associated with treatment outcome in patients being surgically treated for their thumb CMC osteoarthritis (Part 3)