Effects of self-management program in the elderly with osteoarthritis of the knee

Abstract

The purpose of this experimental study was to determine the effect of the self-management promotion program on self-management practice, knee pain and medical cost in the elderly with osteoarthritis of the knee.  The study was carried on 1 ^st October 2017 -31 ^st March 2018.   A total of patient were randomly selected and assigned to the experimental group and control group, 30 each as matching by gender , age, education background  and basic health conditions. The study instruments included a general information  of  elderly  health  form a  pain assessment form , and medical  cost.         

The statistics applied for data analysis include frequency, percentage, mean, and standard of deviation.  The comparison of   pain and medical cost within group was performed by using t-test for dependent samples and between group   by using t-test for independent samples.

Research results showed that, the mean score in pain and medical cost were decreased from before the experimental and decreased from control group  statistical significance level of .05 (p<.05).

In conclusion, the study results revealed that the application of  self-care theory program could lead to the decrease in knee pain and medical cost. Thus in order to improve elderly health self care effectively and the cost of hospital, it is recommended that this program could be widely applied.