New Study Explores Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis and is a primary cause of physical disability among older people. More than 17 million Americans age 65 and older have osteoarthritis in at least one joint. As the population ages, this number is expected to grow exponentially, and massage therapists will encounter more clients with the disease.

In June the first preliminary data were released from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI), a landmark multidiscipline, multi-center study into the causes and treatment of osteoarthritis. The study is a public-private partnership between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and private industry, and is being heralded as a “premiere example of industry, government and academic sectors might work together to add value to biomedical research,” according to NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.

The OAI will be conducted in four academic centers, including the University of Maryland School of Medicine, in Baltimore; Ohio State University, in Columbus; University of Pittsburgh, in Pennsylvania; and Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, in Pawtucket. It is overseen and managed by the University of California, San Francisco.

The study will follow 4,700 people at risk of developing knee osteoarthritis, with early-stage osteoarthritis or with advanced osteoarthritis. Over the next five years, data will be released, in six-month increments, about the symptoms, pain severity, walking ability, stiffness, endurance, balance and strength, nutrition, and prescription medicines and alterative therapies used by the participants. Researchers and interested individuals can sign on to examine the data and to receive updates, at www.oai.ucsf.edu.

Little is known about osteoarthritis, according to the OAI. Treatments, including physical therapy and prescription drugs, are designed to relieve pain or reduce disability caused by bone and cartilage disintegration. No treatments target the cause of the disease.

The study is a big step toward creating an “unparalleled state-of-the-art database showing both the natural progression of the disease and information on imaging and biochemical biomarkers and outcome measures,” the OAI Web site states.

For more information about the Osteoarthritis Initiative, log on to www.oai.ucsf.edu