POS1438-PARE UNDERSTANDING “BEHIND OSTEOARTHRITIS” IN BELGIUM AND FRANCE
Authors: C. Mathy, F. J. Gerard, Y. Henrotin
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2024)

<h3>Background:</h3> Millions of people worldwide are affected by osteoarthritis (OA), a serious condition impacting many aspects of patients' lives and a matter of public health. Most studies on OA have focused on assessing treatment options and developing strategies to help patients. Few studies explored the experiences of OA patients. This study contributes to the effort of giving a voice to people concerned with OA (patients, relatives and healthworkers) through the analysis of survey responses. <h3>Objectives:</h3> This study aimed to explore the experiences and understanding of participants in Belgium and France on what it means to live with OA. <h3>Methods:</h3> Qualitative study. The "Behind OA" survey was conducted online, on a dedicated platform (www.behindoa.com), created by patient associations (The Osteoarthritis Foundation and the French Association for the Fight against Rheumatism) with the help of one pharmaceutical industry. The survey was promoted on their website and social media. Face-to-face data collection was also carried out on a few occasions within hospitals and associations. The survey was opened during a year and ended on World Osteoarthritis Day (17/09/23). Only one open-ended question was asked: "To live with OA is…..", aiming to collect and understand the general public's experience of what is it like for them, or people they know, to live with OA. A total of 1601 comments was collected. 57 were removed as duplicates and spams. 1544 were analysed (France N = 1196, Belgium N = 348) were collected including 1300 from OA patients, 90 from patient' relatives, 41 from nurses or healthcare professionals working with OA patients, 11 from caregivers and 102 were classified as "others". Information on demographics such as gender or age was not collected to respect the European General Data Protection Regulation. Some answers were very short (just 1 or 2 words) whilst some were longer but not exceeding 320 characters which was the maximum allowed by the platform. Some answers also lacked context or were very broad and not informative. A qualitative content analysis was conducted on the transcripts, following the eight steps described in Zhang and Wildemuth (2009): "Step 1: Prepare the Data; Step 2: Define the Unit of Analysis; Step 3: Develop Categories and a Coding Scheme; Step 4: Test Your Coding Scheme on a Sample of Text; Step 5: Code All the Text; Step 6: Assess Your Coding Consistency; Step 7: Draw Conclusions from the Coded Data; Step 8: Report Your Methods and Findings". A coding dictionary was generated with codes created inductively from the data by the two main coders. Themes were generated from the combinations of these codes. <h3>Results:</h3> The preliminary analysis led to the creation of four themes and five subthemes: "Theme 1: Suffering and its impact on life quality" is composed of three subthemes reflecting the different aspects of quality of life that are impacted by OA: Physical pain; psychological aspects; social and personal aspects. Theme 2: "Feeling diminished" highlights the impacts of OA and the changes to people's lives, the invalidity and loss of autonomy. Theme 3: "Misunderstanding" encompasses both feeling misunderstood by other people around them, but also that this condition is misunderstood, not properly diagnosed or considered. Theme 4: "Finding solutions" contains 2 subthemes: Treatments (Pharmacotherapy; physical therapies; alternative therapies), and Research on OA and the relief from it. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> OA has a significant impact on patients' quality of life and profoundly disrupts their normal lives. People with OA express not only the pain, but also real suffering. The need for greater awareness and understanding of the disease was also highlighted, as was the need for more research. <h3>REFERENCES:</h3> [1] Y. Zhang and B. M. Wildemuth, "Qualitative Analysis of Content," In: B. M. Wildemuth, Ed., <i>Applications of Social Research Methods to Questions in Information and Library Science</i>, Libraries Unlimited, 2009. pp. 1-12. <h3>Acknowledgements:</h3> Association Française de Lutte Anti-Rhumatismale (AFLAR), Expanscience, The Osteoarthritis Foundation. <h3>Disclosure of Interests:</h3> Celine Mathy Expanscience, Odix, F.Jeane GERARD Expanscience, Yves Henrotin Expanscience.