Objectives: Osteoarthritis (OA), particularly of the knee and hip, is the most common chronic condition and the leading cause of disability among older adults. Current treatment regimens either provide only temporary relief with medications or require surgical intervention. In addition, more people are spending money to obtain dietary supplements to manage their symptoms related to OA and other chronic illnesses. The purpose of this study is to determine if oral GCS results in functional, global, and structural improvement of the patients with osteoarthritis. Design: The proposed study is a randomized, double-blinded, and placebo-controlled study with repeated measures. Population, Sample, Setting, Years: The sample will consist of twenty persons 50 years and older with osteoarthritis in at least one knee. Potential subjects are being currently recruited from local clinics, by flyers, and e-mail news. Interventions & Outcome Variables: Subjects in experimental and control groups will receive GCS and placebo, respectively, for six months. Subjects in both groups will be provided with placebo for the 3 months until follow-up assessment to prevent them from crossing over. Dependent measures include: 1) range of motion, gait balance, and strength of the affected knee joint for evaluating functional improvement; 2) severity of osteoarthritis, pain, distress, subjective report of functional change, and quality of life for measuring global improvement; and 3) MRI of the knee for measuring structural improvement. Findings: The study is an ongoing process of collecting data. Anticipated completion of subject recruitment will be April 2002. Among 14 subjects that have been screened for eligibility, eight subjects were included for the study. Conclusions: Conclusion of this pilot study is currently not available, however, preliminary data analysis and results will be available in September. Implications: This study fills an important gap in scientific knowledge about the effect of glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate to manage osteoarthritis symptoms. If GCS successfully decreases pain and slows down the joint degenerating process, GCS use will prevent further damage of the articular cartilage, which is a potential concern of using NSAIDs; and OA patients may be more likely to comply with non-pharmacological treatments such as exercise.
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