Professor Nina Østerås, head of the Health Services Research Unit, gave an abstract presentation on the SAMBA study's eight-year link to the prosthesis registry.
Østerås has led several studies related to osteoarthritis. Her work, together with colleague Tuva Moseng and international collaboration, has resulted in treatment recommendations for osteoarthritis of the hip and knee.
Osteoarthritis training program
This year's OARSI congress was entitled, Breaking barriers through multi-disciplinary research. Participants from Diakonhjemmet Hospital and REMEDY, Anne Therese Tveter, Tuva Moseng, Lars Martinsen, Daniel Huseby Bordvik and Nina Østerås also participated in the pre-congress workshop, where Atlas, a training program on osteoarthritis, for healthcare professionals, was presented. This is a project that Nina Østerås and Tuva Moseng have been a part of.
Insights from Congress
The congress otherwise consisted of many modules, and one of the things that was worth taking home was that how you provide information to patients has a lot to say. Content and the words used affect the outcome. It emerged that the time the patient gets to talk before healthcare personnel interrupts is on average 11 seconds. It was emphasized that it was valuable to listen to the patient longer in order to get the best possible outcome.
Another important insight was about obesity in combination with sarcopenia and osteoarthritis: It emerged as very important to also measure body composition, not just BMI, to ensure that patients have not lost too much muscle during weight loss. Diet pills used to reduce BMI often have unfortunate outcomes for the future due to muscle loss. Muscle mass that disappears is difficult to regain.
Findings were also presented suggesting that atopic eczema is a potential risk factor for developing osteoarthritis. Studies also show that sleep challenges have a strong impact on pain.
AI was also a topic, and it was discussed whether a system with reference to apps on a blue prescription could be a way to go. There is much that remains related to payment, necessary updates to the apps and rights.
It also emerged that many articles in "Basic Science" published on sites such as PubMed are fake. There were posts that estimated that as much as 25% of the articles are not trustworthy.
About OARSI
The Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) is the leading medical society for advancing the understanding, early detection, treatment and prevention of osteoarthritis (OA) through its exclusive dedication to research. OARSI's passion and area of focus is on OA, a debilitating disease affecting more than 600 million people around the world. With more than 30 years of experience serving the OA community, OARSI provides the necessary framework, expert resources and support for its international constituents to address the challenges of OA so that the knowledge gained can ultimately be used to help improve patient care and patient outcomes.
Read more on OARSI's website: https://oarsi.org/
