People make sense of osteoarthritis (OA) by drawing on information, beliefs, and knowledge. This narrative review summarises diverse qualitative and quantitative research investigating beliefs and knowledge about OA and the impact these have on behaviour and outcomes. It synthesises evidence and highlights key actions clinicians can take to support people to make sense of OA in helpful ways. Beliefs about OA inform the behaviour of those living with OA and the behaviour of clinicians caring for people with OA. Beliefs about OA often focus on joint degradation and inevitable progression. These impairment-focused fatalistic beliefs can result in reduced offer of, or engagement in, active management strategies. Alternative views focus on health as part of a dynamic ecosystem where people are healthy when they can participate in activities they value. These beliefs are associated with increased engagement in self-management and lifestyle-based interventions. Clinician actions that support people to make sense of OA ways that align with helpful behaviours and support participation in valued activities represent key opportunities to improve health and well-being.
Objective: This study aims to establish an accurate and robust imaging biomarker for pre-clinical osteoarthritis (OA) research, focusing on early detection of cartilage surface degeneration.
Method: Using 50 male Wistar rats, this study aims to observe Collagenase-induced OA (CIOA) progression through microcomputed x-ray tomography (µCT), histopathological analysis, and gait analysis. A novel parameter, Cartilage Roughness Score (CRS), was developed for assessing cartilage structural damage from µCT data and was compared with histological OARSI Cartilage Degeneration Score (OARSI CDS). Additionally, as CRS maps the full surface, it was used to simulate the level of uncertainty in histological sampling.
Results: CRS and OARSI CDS have a linear relationship. CRS for healthy cartilage is 2.75 (95% CI: 1.14-4.36), and with every 1 unit increase in OARSI, CRS is expected to increase by 0.64 (95% CI: 0.35-0.92). Cartilage degeneration due to CIOA was evident in both histopathological scoring and CRS. However, only CRS was sensitive enough to show consistent damage progression from day 10 to day 60. Furthermore, our simulation for histological sampling suggested that up to 16 coronal slices with 200 µm spacing would be needed to accurately represent the full extent of cartilage surface degeneration in a slice-wise manner. Gait analysis showed changes solely at eight days post-collagenase injection, normalizing by day 60.
Conclusion: The CRS analysis method emerges as a robust tool for cartilage surface damage assessment. This study demonstrates the potential of automatic 3D analysis over the traditional 2D histological approach when evaluating cartilage surface damage.