Athletic Trainers' Osteoarthritis Consortium: Raising Awareness of Osteoarthritis in the Sports Medicine Community

摘要

At 18 years of age, a female soccer player tears her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and meniscus. Before she graduates college, she is reporting chronic patellofemoral pain, and by 30 she has knee osteoarthritis, which is a chronic, disabling, and painful disorder. The chronic pain interferes with her activities of daily living, discourages her from being active, and reduces her quality of life. As she becomes more sedentary, her risk of other comorbidities, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity, increases and further compromises her overall health. In a community often focused on short-term goals (e.g., return to activity), sports medicine clinicians need to be thinking about preserving our patient's long-term health and wellness by adopting primary prevention strategies and thinking about the long-term consequences of our decisions. The Athletic Trainers' Osteoarthritis Consortium is committed to raising awareness, promoting research, and advancing best practices in the prevention and management of osteoarthritis. The Consortium envisions a time when clinicians engage in primary and secondary osteoarthritis prevention as well as managing osteoarthritis to help prevent situations like this one.