Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Program on Knowledge and Practice Regarding Prevention and Management of Osteoarthritis among Adults

Introduction: Osteoarthritis (OA) is a major source of pain, disability, and socioeconomic cost worldwide. In India, 80% of population suffers with OA who complains of knee pain. Annually, 10 million cases of OA are found. More than half of the people with OA are under 65 years of age. The best way of prevention and management of OA is regular exercise and maintenance of diet. Ignorance of the people, regarding preventive strategy, makes them more vulnerable to OA. Materials and Methods: A quantitative one-group pretest-posttest design was applied to assess knowledge and practice on prevention and management of OA among rural adults. Systematic random sampling was used to select 60 samples. Structured knowledge interview and practice rating scale were used to collect the data. Results: The study found significantly improvement in post-test knowledge (P ≤ 0.01) and practice score (P ≤ 0.01) of the adults regarding prevention and management of OA. The study reported significant correlation (P < 0.01) between post-test knowledge and practice score. The educational status (P ≤ 0.01), occupation (P = 0.0039), and monthly family income (P = 0.030) of the adults showed significantly association with post-test knowledge and practice. Conclusion: Structured teaching program has a major impact in improving knowledge and practice of adults regarding prevention and management of OA. Well-planned and demonstrated, nurse-led educational module will enhance the knowledge and improve the practice of the adult population