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Objective Digital self-management programs are increasingly used in the management of osteoarthritis (OA). Little is known about heterogeneous patterns in response to these programs. We describe weekly pain trajectories of people with knee or hip OA over up to 52-week participation in a digital self-management program. Methods Observational cohort study among participants enrolled between January 2019 and September 2021 who participated at least 4 and up to 52 weeks in the program (n  = 16 274). We measured pain using Numeric Rating Scale (NRS 0–10) and applied latent class growth analysis to identify classes with similar trajectories. Associations between baseline characteristics and trajectory classes were examined using multinomial logistic regression and dominance analysis. Results We identified 4 pain trajectory classes: "mild-largely improved" (30%), "low moderate-largely improved" (34%), "upper moderate-improved" (24%), and "severe-persistent" (12%). For classes with decreasing pain, the most pain reduction occurred during first 20 weeks and was stable thereafter. Male sex, older age, lower body mass index (BMI), better physical function, lower activity impairment, less anxiety/depression, higher education, knee OA, no walking difficulties, no wish for surgery and higher physical activity, all measured at enrolment, were associated with greater probabilities of membership in "mild-largely improved" class than other classes. Dominance analysis suggested that activity impairment followed by wish for surgery and walking difficulties were the most important predictors of trajectory class membership. Conclusions Our results highlight the importance of reaching people with OA for first-line treatment prior to developing severe pain, poor health status and a wish for surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hand osteoarthritis (OA) is a common form of OA, for which education and exercise are considered the first‐line treatment. The aim of the present study was to examine pain and perceived hand function in participants following 3 months of digitally delivered first‐line treatment for hand OA. Three‐hundred‐and‐seventy‐nine of 846 participants with clinical signs and symptoms of hand OA completed the study. The digital hand OA treatment program consists of video instructed daily exercises and patient education through text lessons. Pain (NRS, 0 no pain, 10 worst) was the primary outcome, and stiffness (NRS) and the Functional Index for Hand OsteoArthritis (FIHOA, 0 best, 30 worst) were among secondary outcomes. The McNemar test and linear mixed effect regression model were used to assess the changes in outcomes from baseline to 3‐month. After three months, the digitally delivered program was associated with a significant decrease in pain intensity (mean change −1.30 (95% CI −1.49, −1.12)) and hand stiffness (mean change ‐0.81 (95% CI −1.02, −0.60)) but no conclusive changes in the FIHOA scores (mean change 0.3 (95% CI −0.2, 0.7)). The results agree with reports on face‐to‐face delivered first‐line treatment for hand OA suggesting that digital treatment is a viable treatment option in patients with hand OA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A growing body of evidence suggests that depression is related to dementia in older adults. Previous research has been done in high-income countries and there is a lack of studies in low- and middle income countries (LMICs).Objective: To examine the relationship between depressive symptoms and incidence of dementia in a population-based study of older adults in Latin America.Methods: The study is a part of the 10/66 Dementia Research Group's population survey and includes 11,472 older adults (baseline mean age 74 years) from Cuba, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Venezuela. The baseline examinations were done in 2003-2007 and the follow-up examinations 4 years later. Semi-structured psychiatric interviews gave information about ICD-10 depression and sub-syndromal depression (i.e., ≥4 depressive symptoms) at baseline. Information on dementia were collected at the follow-up examination. Competing risk models analyzed the associations between depression and incidence of dementia and the final model were adjusted for age, sex, education, stroke, and diabetes. Separate analyses were conducted for each site and then meta-analyzed by means of fixed effect models.Results: At baseline, the prevalence of depression was 26.0% (n = 2,980): 5.4% had ICD-10 depression and 20.6% sub-syndromal depression. During the follow-up period, 9.3% (n = 862) developed dementia and 14.3% (n = 1,329) deceased. In the pooled analyses, both ICD-10 depression (adjusted sub-hazard ratio (sHR) 1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.26-2.11) and sub-syndromal depression (adjusted sHR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.09-1.51) were associated with increased incidence of dementia. The Higging I2 tests showed a moderate heterogeneity across the study sites.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that late-life depression is associated with the incidence of dementia in LMICs in Latin America, which support results from earlier studies conducted in high-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Exercise and education is recommended as first-line treatment by evidence-based, international guidelines for low back pain (LBP). Despite consensus regarding the treatment, there is a gap between guidelines and what is offered to patients. Digital LBP treatments are an emerging way of delivering first-line treatment., Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate outcomes after participation in a 3-month digitally delivered treatment program for individuals with subacute or chronic LBP., Methods: We analyzed data from 2593 consecutively recruited participants in a digitally delivered treatment program, available via the national health care system in Sweden. The program consists of video-instructed and progressive adaptable exercises, education through text lessons, and a chat and video function connecting participants with a personal physiotherapist. The primary outcome was mean change and proportion reaching a minimal clinically important change (MCIC) for LBP (2 points or 30% decrease) assessed with the numerical rating scale (average pain during the past week, discrete boxes, 0-10, best to worst). Secondary outcomes were mean change and proportion reaching MCIC (10 points or 30%) in disability, assessed with the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI; 0-100, best to worst) and a question on patient acceptable symptom state (PASS)., Results: The mean participant age was 63 years, 73.85% (1915/2593) were female, 54.72% (1419/2593) had higher education, 50.56% (1311/2593) were retired, and the mean BMI was 26.5 kg/m2. Participants completed on average 84% of the prescribed exercises and lessons, with an adherence of ≥80% in 69.26% (1796/2593) and ≥90% in 50.13% (1300/2593) of the participants. Mean reduction in pain from baseline to 3 months was 1.7 (95% CI -1.8 to -1.6), corresponding to a 35% relative change. MCIC was reached by 58.50% (1517/2593) of participants. ODI decreased 4 points (95% CI -4.5 to -3.7), and 36.48% (946/2593) reached an MCIC. A change from no to yes in PASS was seen in 30.35% (787/2593) of participants. Multivariable analysis showed positive associations between reaching an MCIC in pain and high baseline pain (odds ratio [OR] 1.9, 95% CI 1.6-2.1), adherence (OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.8), and motivation (OR 1.2, 95% CI 1.0-1.5), while we found negative associations for wish for surgery (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.5-0.9) and pain in other joints (OR 0.9, 95% CI 0.7-0.9). We found no associations between sociodemographic characteristics and pain reduction., Conclusions: Participants in this digitally delivered treatment for LBP had reduced pain at 3-month follow-up, and 58.50% (1517/2593) reported an MCIC in pain. Our findings suggest that digital treatment programs can reduce pain at clinically important levels for people with high adherence to treatment but that those with such severe LBP problems that they wish to undergo surgery may benefit from additional support., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05226156; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05226156., (©Helena Hörder, Håkan Nero, Majda Misini Ignjatovic, Ali Kiadaliri, L Stefan Lohmander, Leif E Dahlberg, Allan Abbott. Originally published in JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technology (https://rehab.jmir.org), 21.06.2022.)

With population ageing, there is an increased interest in how to promote a good old age. A predominant concept in these discussions is successful ageing, which is mainly based on researchers' definitions. This article aims to explore successful ageing from the perspective of community-dwelling older people (24 persons aged 77-90 years). Individual open interviews were conducted and analysed according to qualitative content analysis. An overarching theme was formulated as "self-respect through ability to keep fear of frailty at a distance". This embraced the content of four categories: "having sufficient bodily resources for security and opportunities", "structures that promote security and opportunities", "feeling valuable in relation to the outside world", and "choosing gratitude instead of worries". Ageing seems to be a dynamic process rather than a static structure and might therefore be susceptible to actions. Paying attention to attitudes and treating the older person with respect, particularly with regard to worries about increasing vulnerability, can lead to better ways of promoting successful ageing.