What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study

Objective To examine the use and out-of-pocket expenses resulting from consultations, products and practices across conventional, self-care, and complementary medicine (CM) treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) among Australian women.Design, setting and participants A cross-sectional survey of 800 wome...

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Main Authors: Alex Broom, David Sibbritt, Jon Adams, Lesley Ward, Jane Frawley, Tobias Sundberg, Jessica Bayes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022-03-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/3/e055468.full
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author Alex Broom
David Sibbritt
Jon Adams
Lesley Ward
Jane Frawley
Tobias Sundberg
Jessica Bayes
author_facet Alex Broom
David Sibbritt
Jon Adams
Lesley Ward
Jane Frawley
Tobias Sundberg
Jessica Bayes
author_sort Alex Broom
collection DOAJ
description Objective To examine the use and out-of-pocket expenses resulting from consultations, products and practices across conventional, self-care, and complementary medicine (CM) treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) among Australian women.Design, setting and participants A cross-sectional survey of 800 women from the 45 and Up Study who had reported a clinical diagnosis of OA.Outcome measures Women’s use of conventional, CM and self-prescribed treatments for OA and the associated out-of-pocket cost.Results Completed questionnaires were returned by 403 women (50.4%). Their average time since the first diagnosis of OA was 15.4 years, and self-rated severity of OA was 5.1 (out of 10) over the past 12 months. During the previous year, 67.0% of the women consulted a doctor, 39.2% consulted an allied health practitioner and 34.7% consulted a CM practitioner for their OA. Some women (19%) consulted with practitioner(s) from all three practitioner groups, 27% consulted with practitioner(s) from two of the three practitioner groups, while 6% consulted with a CM practitioner only. Women with a greater time since diagnosis had more consultations, as did women who rated their OA as more severe. Women’s average combined out-of-pocket expenditure for OA-related healthcare consultations, prescription medications, products, and practices was $673 per annum. Extrapolated to all Australian women with OA, aged 50 years and over, the total out-of-pocket expenditure for this condition is estimated to be $873 million per annum.Conclusions Australian women with OA use a range of conventional and CM consultations, self-care, products and practices to manage their condition, incurring significant out-of-pocket expenses. Given the high individual and societal burden of OA, there is a need for further research into the concurrent use of different healthcare resources with a view to providing safe, cost-effective management of OA across the healthcare system and the wider community.
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spelling doaj-art-5091da747c2045fe93ae6d4f3667a97f2025-08-20T01:48:03ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-03-0112310.1136/bmjopen-2021-055468What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional studyAlex Broom0David Sibbritt1Jon Adams2Lesley Ward3Jane Frawley4Tobias Sundberg5Jessica Bayes6Sydney Centre for Healthy Societies; School of Social and Political Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaFaculty of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaAustralian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine (ARCCIM), University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaDepartment of Sport, Exercise & Rehabilitation, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, UKSchool of Public Health, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaDepartment of Health Promotion Science, Sophiahemmet University, Stockholm, SwedenFaculty of Public Health, University of Technology Sydney Faculty of Health, Sydney, New South Wales, AustraliaObjective To examine the use and out-of-pocket expenses resulting from consultations, products and practices across conventional, self-care, and complementary medicine (CM) treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) among Australian women.Design, setting and participants A cross-sectional survey of 800 women from the 45 and Up Study who had reported a clinical diagnosis of OA.Outcome measures Women’s use of conventional, CM and self-prescribed treatments for OA and the associated out-of-pocket cost.Results Completed questionnaires were returned by 403 women (50.4%). Their average time since the first diagnosis of OA was 15.4 years, and self-rated severity of OA was 5.1 (out of 10) over the past 12 months. During the previous year, 67.0% of the women consulted a doctor, 39.2% consulted an allied health practitioner and 34.7% consulted a CM practitioner for their OA. Some women (19%) consulted with practitioner(s) from all three practitioner groups, 27% consulted with practitioner(s) from two of the three practitioner groups, while 6% consulted with a CM practitioner only. Women with a greater time since diagnosis had more consultations, as did women who rated their OA as more severe. Women’s average combined out-of-pocket expenditure for OA-related healthcare consultations, prescription medications, products, and practices was $673 per annum. Extrapolated to all Australian women with OA, aged 50 years and over, the total out-of-pocket expenditure for this condition is estimated to be $873 million per annum.Conclusions Australian women with OA use a range of conventional and CM consultations, self-care, products and practices to manage their condition, incurring significant out-of-pocket expenses. Given the high individual and societal burden of OA, there is a need for further research into the concurrent use of different healthcare resources with a view to providing safe, cost-effective management of OA across the healthcare system and the wider community.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/3/e055468.full
spellingShingle Alex Broom
David Sibbritt
Jon Adams
Lesley Ward
Jane Frawley
Tobias Sundberg
Jessica Bayes
What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study
BMJ Open
title What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study
title_full What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study
title_short What is the healthcare utilisation and out-of-pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis? A cross-sectional study
title_sort what is the healthcare utilisation and out of pocket expenditure associated with osteoarthritis a cross sectional study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/3/e055468.full
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