Comparative Effect of Two Educational Videos for People With Knee Osteoarthritis (vidEO)

Comparative Effect of Two Educational Videos for People With Knee Osteoarthritis - Disease and Impairment Discourse Versus Empowerment and Participatory Discourse: vidEO - An Online Randomised Controlled Trial

Education is an important part of knee osteoarthritis management. The aim of education is to help people with knee osteoarthritis make the best choices for them in terms of their treatment and lifestyle behaviours. Traditional education that describes the condition simplistically in terms of the joint damage and describes the cause of osteoarthritis solely with respect to loading through the joint can lead to activity avoidance and pessimism about the future progression of symptoms. An alternative is to provide the information about knee osteoarthritis management with the aim of giving hope for the future and building motivation and confidence to be physically active. This study will compare two educational videos that cover the same topics but with a contrasting 'discourse'. The experimental video has an 'empowerment and participatory' discourse, while the comparator or control video has a typical 'disease and impairment' discourse. The experimental video minimises mention of joint damage and instead corrects misconceptions about knee osteoarthritis, addresses common barriers to physical activity and incorporates behaviour change techniques such as social learning and modelling of desired behaviours. In this randomised controlled trial, people who report a history of knee problems consistent with knee osteoarthritis will complete questionnaires to determine their self-efficacy for managing knee osteoarthritis pain and their fear of movement. The participants will also be asked about their expectations for the future, their level of motivation to be physically active, and their knowledge about knee osteoarthritis. Participants will then be allocated one of the videos and asked to watch it before repeating the questionnaires.

Inclusion Criteria:

• live in Australia;
• are aged 45 years or over;
• have experienced activity-related knee pain during the past 3 months or have been told by a health professional that they have knee OA, ; and
• are able to easily understand verbal and written English language.

Exclusion Criteria:

• have had a hip or knee joint replacement;
• are scheduled/referred to see an orthopaedic surgeon or are already on a waiting list for hip or knee joint replacement;
• have any type of systemic arthritis (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, gout), or have morning stiffness that lasts longer than 30 minutes;
• have a health condition that makes them unable to walk (since it will be difficult for people who cannot walk to follow the recommendations made in either video);
• have seen a health professional for their knee pain during the previous six months