A Qualitative Study of Psychosocial Factors in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: Insights Learned From an Asian Population
Authors: Yang Su-Yin , Woon Eugene Yong Sheng , Griva Konstadina , Tan Bryan Yijia 
Published: December 2022

Background

A patient’s experience with knee osteoarthritis (OA) is influenced by many psychosocial contributors that can influence the impact of pain. Such factors are known to explain some of the discordance between objective clinical parameters and patient-reported levels of disability and treatment effectiveness. However, few data are available to help clinicians understand the psychosocial factors that apply to the world’s many Asian populations. Insights gained from a qualitative study in such a population may support targeted interventions.

Questions/purposes

In this qualitative study involving a group of Asian patients with knee OA in Singapore, we asked: (1) What psychologic factors contribute to patients’ experiences, rehabilitation, and recovery? (2) What social factors contribute to patients’ experiences, rehabilitation, and recovery?

Methods

Semistructured interviews eliciting broad patient experiences of managing knee OA were conducted in an urban, referral-based tertiary hospital in central Singapore. Patients were recruited if they met either of the following criteria: Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥ 3 (minimum of one knee); Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score ≤ 60; or the Pain average (P), interference with Enjoyment of life (E), and interference with General activity (G) (PEG) ≥ 5. All patients had a clinical diagnosis of knee OA, were ambulatory in the community with or without a walking aid, had not undergone partial arthroplasty or TKA, were prescribed nonsurgical treatment, and were conversant in either English or Mandarin. Forty-six patients (30 women and 16 men, mean age 64 years old) were recruited for this study. A thematic analysis with elements of grounded theory and framework analysis was performed using a deductive approach. Psychologic influences specific to patients’ behavioral and emotional responses to pain, as well as social factors known to have an impact on the experience of managing knee OA, were identified in the interview transcripts and coded according to established factors from earlier research. An inductive thematic analysis was then applied to the remaining transcripts to identify new themes that emerged from the data. Thematic saturation was attained when study team members agreed data and thematic sufficiency were met in the 46 transcripts. The study team discussed and deemed the 46 transcripts to contain sufficient insights for a reasonably clear understanding of the codes and development of themes to answer the study’s research questions.

Results

Six main themes related to psychosocial influences on pain emerged. Psychologic factors were “loss of face” because of knee OA, anticipation and avoidance of pain and suffering, and a vicious cycle of negative emotional experiences. The social factors we identified were social and family support, workplace environment and employment uncertainty, and built environment (patients’ ability to navigate manmade structures and facilities).

Conclusion

Psychosocial factors have an important impact on patients’ physical, psychologic, and social functioning. Although several of our findings have been addressed previously, the phenomenon of loss of face and the wide spectrum of social and family support dynamics found in our Asian patients with knee OA were new findings. With loss of face, patients were concerned about how others would view the change in them, including movement changes because of knee OA. They appeared to associate the use of walking canes with major disability, loss of respect, and being discriminated against by others, motivating patients to “save face” by dissociating themselves from those stigmas, even at the cost of mobility and independence. An interplay of complex cultural processes (perceived social roles and contributions to family, desire to avoid burdening family, help-seeking behavior, and the preference for unsolicited social support) underpinned by the value of collectivism impacted the behaviors and choices patients exhibited.

Clinical Relevance

With knowledge about the impact of culturally relevant psychosocial factors on the experience and outcomes of patients with knee OA, clinicians will be able to screen and actively explore these factors more effectively. Especially important themes include pain perception (paying close attention to signs of pain catastrophizing and negative affect), presence of chronic illness shame associated with a diagnosis of knee OA (including the stigma associated with using a walking aid), and level of social support received and contributions of a patient’s built environment to kinesiophobia. For patients who are still working, the presence of workplace stressors and management of these stressors should also be explored. Where possible, screening tools that measure psychosocial factors such as pain catastrophizing and emotional distress can also be used as an added layer of screening in busy clinical settings.