The overarching themes indicated people with osteoarthritis delay their diagnosis , opting for self-management and informal information gathering .
This informal rather than health professional-led guidance is sought and maintained as an important re source throughout the care of this population and is valued .
There remains uncertainty regarding when this is required , but the expected failure of conservative treatment to manage pain and symptoms is common .
This may provide a more valuable perception of non-operative management to promote its adoption and adherence in managing osteoarthritis
Abstract This paper determines the perceptions of people diagnosed with osteoarthritis towards their conservative management strategies .
Personal models of osteoarthritis and their relation to self-management activities and quality of life
We examined the personal models of osteoarthritis ( OA ) of 61 patients over 60 years of age .  Models were elicited using a structured interview . Shared beliefs included perceiving OA as a serious , painful , chronic , and incurable condition that can be managed by recommended medical treatment . Considerable individual differences were found on six personal-model constructs : Symptoms , Seriousness , Cause , Control , Helpfulness of Treatment , and Negative Feelings about Treatment . The constructs of Symptoms and Seriousness were consistently related to a variety of important outcomes . For example , participants with higher scores on Symptoms and Seriousness reported higher levels of self-management ( both concurrently and prospect ively ) , reported more utilization of medical services , and experienced a poorer quality of life . The implication s for the design of health-education material s and for patient-provider interactions are discussed
The overarching themes indicated people with osteoarthritis delay their diagnosis , opting for self-management and informal information gathering .
This informal rather than health professional-led guidance is sought and maintained as an important re source throughout the care of this population and is valued .
There remains uncertainty regarding when this is required , but the expected failure of conservative treatment to manage pain and symptoms is common .
This may provide a more valuable perception of non-operative management to promote its adoption and adherence in managing osteoarthritis
Abstract This paper determines the perceptions of people diagnosed with osteoarthritis towards their conservative management strategies .