P072 The management of hand osteoarthritis in the NHS: a national UK clinician-based study
Authors: Sofat Nidhi , Ahmed Liban , Radulovic Aleksandar , Cerovac Sonja , Umarji Shamim 
Published: April 2024

Background/Aims

Hand Osteoarthritis (HOA) is a condition causing significant pain and disability in those affected. Treatments include pharmacological/non-pharmacological approaches, including splinting, pain management with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), intra-articular corticosteroid (ICS) injections and surgery. There may be variability in ICS use, since few trials have compared efficacy of ICS over placebo. We conducted a UK-wide study of practising clinicians regarding their management of HOA.

Methods

An online survey was conducted from September 2022 - May 2023. Practising clinicians who are members of their respective societies were contacted by email. Participants provided information about their job role, region of work, nature of their clinical practice, subtypes of HOA managed and preferred management options.

Results

A total of 132 complete responses were obtained from the survey. Responding clinicians included Consultant Rheumatologists (43.2%), Consultant Hand Surgeons (34.8%), Rheumatology Specialist Nurses (6.1%), Rheumatology trainees (7.4%), Occupational Therapists (4.6%), Consultant Radiologists (1.5%), Physiotherapists (0.8%), General Practitioners (0.8%) and Physician Associates (0.8%). Responses were obtained from London (25%), South East (12.9%), South West (4.5%), East of England (6.8%), Midlands (12.1%), North West (3.8%), North East (3.8%), Yorkshire and the Humber (28%), Scotland (0.8%) and Wales (2.3%). There were 48.5% of respondents working in tertiary care services, 37.1% in district general hospitals, 13.6% across multiple sites in secondary care and 0.8% in primary care. Ninety-eight per cent of responders were seeing patients with HOA and the most common number of patients seen with HOA was 1-10 per month, reported by 40.3% of respondents. The most common type of HOA observed was first CMC joint or DIP/PIP joint involvement (more than 50%), with a lower proportion for erosive HOA (up to 10%). More than 90% of respondents reported that NSAIDs/hand therapy/intra-articular steroid injections/surgery were the treatments most likely to be offered. Eighty per cent of respondents reported an awareness of splinting, 31% were aware of taping. Regarding ICS, 62.9% performed ICS injections and 37.1% preferred injections under ultrasound (US) guidance. Reasons for preferring injections in clinic included time taken for US guided injections due to pressure on radiology services. Some clinicians preferred US guided confirmation of inflammation before proceeding to injection.

Conclusion

We obtained a high response rate from clinicians managing HOA. The most common HOA subtype observed was the first CMC, PIP/DIP joints. Recent EULAR (European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology) recommendations state that ‘intra-articular injections of glucocorticoids should not generally be used in hand OA’, but can be considered in patients with painful PIP/DIP joints. We found high use of ICS injections as an adjunct to other therapies. Injection in clinic was preferred due to pressures on Radiology services. Our data suggest a higher use of ICS in clinical practice in comparison with published guideline recommendations.

Disclosure

N. Sofat: None. L. Ahmed: None. A. Radulovic: None. S. Cerovac: None. S. Umarji: None.