Three steps to changing the narrative about knee osteoarthritis care: a call to action

摘要

Knee osteoarthritis (OA), characterised by knee pain and functional limitation, is widely understood to imply that symptoms are due to structural damage. This view leads to the belief that non-surgical approaches are futile and the structural damage needs to be 'fixed'. In contrast, contemporary evidence supports knee OA as a 'whole person condition' in which knee health is influenced by the interaction of different biopsychosocial factors that modulate inflammatory processes and tissue sensitivity, as well as behavioural responses that lead to pain and disability.This contrasting view reinforces the critical role of non-surgical approaches to manage knee OA. To promote this conceptual shift in understanding knee OA, clinicians must take three kev actions.