Therapeutic education in patients followed for knee osteoarthritis at Souss Massa University Hospital

Objective: To evaluate the impact of therapeutic patient education (TPE) in patients with knee osteoarthritis, focusing on clinical outcomes and lifestyle changes. Methods: Thirty-two female patients, aged 45 to 65 years, presenting knee osteoarthritis were included in this prospective cohort and divided into two groups: 16 benefited from TPE carrying on nutrition, weight management and exercise, while 16 did not receive TPE. Clinical assessments included the WOMAC Index, EQ-5D-3L, visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, and levels of activity before and after 4 months of TPE. Results: A comparison analysis between educated and non-educated patients reveals a significant differences on the practice of physical activity (p=0.004), a significant differences in dietary adoption (p<0.001), an improvement in weight distribution (p=0.69), thus the number of obese patients halved, from 12 to 6. The results reveal a statistically significant reduction in the perception of pain among educated patients (p = 0.023).They also show significant changes in treatments received for knee osteoarthritis. After TPE the number of patients with a normal WOMAC algofunctional score increased from 2 to 9 patients. The evaluation of the EQ-5D-3L score shows significant changes in patients' quality of life. Conclusion: The TPE has demonstrated promising results in improving the quality of life of patients with knee osteoarthritis, particularly by enhancing mobility and autonomy and reducing the severity of pain.