Early OA diagnosis

In primary care, many osteoarthritis (OA) patient’s first consult is after having complaints for several years. When they are consulting, the OA diagnosis often is not made at all or several years after the first consultation. Once OA is diagnosed, the joint tissues have often already changed irreversibly, carrying forward the ongoing degenerative process. Therefore, recognizing OA patients in primary care in an early stage of the disease will benefit the degenerative process. Though, to be able to identify people in the very early stages of the disease, more insight is needed in the barriers and facilitators for early OA consultation and diagnosis in primary healthcare.

The objectives of this pilot study are to obtain insight in: 
1. healthcare visit behaviour of patients with recent onset hip or knee complaints; 
2. patients’ barriers and facilitators to visit a primary healthcare professional with recent onset hip or knee 
complaints; 
3. attitudes and beliefs among primary healthcare providers regarding early-stage diagnosing of OA; 
4. barriers and facilitators among primary healthcare providers for diagnosing hip or knee OA in first   consulters with recent onset hip or knee complaints. 

This pilot study consists of a pragmatic cross-sectional (anonymous) questionnaire and a qualitative study using one-on-one interviews. 

Patients:
Participants will receive a short online questionnaire when clicking on a link (or scanning a QR-code) in open platforms, such as social media and local newspapers. At the end of the questionnaire, participants are asked to fill in an e-mail address if we may approach them for an interview. For the interviews, 10 participants who consulted a primary healthcare professional and 10 participants who did not will be approached. 

Primary healthcare professionals:
Around 10 general practitioners (GPs) and 10 physical therapists (PTs) (primary healthcare professionals) will be approached for interviews. 

The burden and risks associated with filling in the questionnaire and participating in an interview are minimal. The questionnaire (5 minutes maximum) and interview (30 to 60 minutes) take some time from the participants. In the questionnaire and interview, no questions will be asked about personal topics.