To establish priority key messages for patients with osteoarthritis (OA).
A Delphi survey and priority pairwise ranking activity was conducted. Participants included 51 OA experts from 13 countries and 9 patients (consumers) living with hip and/or knee OA. During 3 Delphi rounds, the panel of experts and consumers rated recommendations extracted from clinical guidelines and provided additional statements they considered important. When ≥70% of panel members agreed a statement was "essential," it was retained for the next Delphi round. The final list of essential statements was reviewed by a consumer focus group and statements were modified for clarity if required. Finally, a priority pairwise ranking activity determined the rank order of the list of essential messages.
Eighty-five experts and 15 consumers were invited to participate; 51 experts and 9 consumers completed round 1 of the Delphi survey, and 43 experts and 8 consumers completed the final priority ranking activity. From an original list of 114 statements, 21 statements were rated as essential. Most statements (n = 17) related to nondrug treatment approaches for OA. Study limitations included that >50% of the panel comprised of physical therapists lead to high rankings of exercise and physical activity statements and also that only English-language statements were considered.
OA experts and consumers have identified and prioritized 21 key patient messages about OA. These messages may be used to inform the content of consumer educational materials to ensure patients are educated about the most important aspects of OA and its management.