Methods: This quasi-experimental research was conducted in 119 overweight and diabetic older adults with knee osteoarthritis based on the diagnostic criteria of American College of Rheumatology. The participants joined the comprehensive health education program, including 1) providing health knowledge / information, 2) doing physical activities and 3) providing knowledge about food / nutrition. Data were collected before and after 2 weeks of the experiment by using knee osteoarthritis knowledge test, a questionnaire on self-efficacy and a questionnaire on expectation of treatment outcomes. Data were analyzed using Paired t-test.
Results: The results showed that after the experiment, the scores of the participants were: knowledge of knee osteoarthritis (Mean ± SD = 7.66 ± 1.17), self-efficacy (Mean ± SD = 26.07 ± 2.84) and expectation of treatment outcomes (Mean ± SD = 10.68 ± 4.33). They were significantly higher than those of before the experiment: knowledge about knee osteoarthritis (Mean ± SD = 6.68 ± 1.12), self-efficacy (Mean ± SD = 22.68 ± 4.33) and expectation of treatment outcomes (Mean ± SD = 8.98 ± 2.36) with statistical significance (P <.001, P <.001, P <.001, respectively).
Conclusion: Health professionals should use this program as a guideline to prevent and control knee osteoarthritis, especially with overweight and diabetic older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Applying effective health education program has more benefit in providing better care in overweight and diabetic older adults with knee osteoarthritis