National strategy launched to improve osteoarthritis care

A leading osteoarthritis expert says too often patients receive fragmented and inappropriate care to manage their damaged joints. 

Professor David Hunter is leading a national strategy to significantly improve the way patients with osteoarthritis are managed. 

The chronic joint disease affects more than 2.2 million Australians and a majority of people living with it are aged between 25 and 64. 

Half of the $3.75 billion spent yearly on osteoarthritis is from joint replacements alone, which should be considered a last resort. 

"There has been a 30 percent increase in the number of knee replacements in the last ten years and this could continue to rise," Professor David Hunter from the University of Sydney said.

"Many of these surgeries could have been prevented through weight management and increased physical activity." 

The national strategy includes calls for at least 50 percent of people with osteoarthritis to take up lifestyle interventions to reduce pain and disability by 2025. 

It's also pushing for both Medicare and health insurance reforms to support programs that tackles issues such as weight loss and pain management. 

The strategy, which is endorsed by peak arthritis bodies and orthopaedic surgeons, identifies seven priority areas from prevention to joint replacements and rehabilitation. 

"Over 50 percent of people who find themselves on the elective joint replacement list haven't had any non-surgical management strategies offered to them," said Matthew Williams from the Australian Physiotherapy Association. 

Mr Williams manages a program at Royal North Shore Hospital which targets people waiting for elective surgery and offers them other solutions. 

That program has been rolled out to other hospitals in NSW, but it's not nationally funded. 

"We want to be able to see these strategies available earlier on in the disease program, when they're out in primary care," said Mr Williams. 

"There's very strong evidence based now that an individual who loses say five to 10 percent of their bodyweight, accompanied with a strength-based program, can have a 30 to 50 percent reduction in their pain, as well as improvements in quality of life and their function" said Mr Williams. 

Professor Hunter says the national strategy could save in excess of $3 billion of expenditure per year and save a lot of pain and suffering. 

"It's not complicated. To most people it is just common sense and ultimately if the government refuses to listen, the tsunami of joint replacements will continue to escalate," he said. 

The National Osteoarthritis Strategy will be presented to a summit in Canberra early next week.