Effect of Complementary and Supportive Applications on Symptoms and Functional Status in Women with Knee Osteoarthritis

Abstract

Background: In the majority of patients with osteoarthritis (OA), it is seen that the symptoms associated with the disease are not effectively managed. Objective: This study aimed to determine the use of complementary and supportive applications (CSA) and the symptoms and functional status of the methods used in women with knee osteoarthritis. Methods: This descriptive study consisted of 255 women with knee OA who applied to the rheumatology outpatient clinic of a state and a university hospital between May and December 2017. Data were collected using the questionnaire prepared by the author on the basis of a literature review and Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score. Descriptive statistics, Mann–Whitney U test, and Kruskal–Wallis H test were used to evaluate the data. Results: Results showed that 22% of women with OA of the knee used CSA and 75% of these women used herbal treatment; 55.4% used these therapies on the advice of people around them, and 83.9% did not inform the health personnel about the method they used. Half the women stated that they had benefited from the method they used. The mean scores of pain and daily life activities were found to be significantly higher (p < 0.05) in women using alternative therapies compared with those not using them. The difference between the mean scores of the KOOS sub-dimension of patients using complementary and supportive care according to age, education level and year of illness was found to be statistically significant (p < 0.005). Conclusion: It was determined that women with knee OA used complementary and supportive care methods because of the pain and benefited from these methods. It was found that the pain and daily living activity scores of the patients using these methods were higher than those who did not.

Keywords

• nursing
• complementary medicine
• osteoarthritis
• supportive medicine