What is osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a progressive loss of joint cartilage; it is the most common form of arthritis. It may be hereditary, developmental, metabolic, or related to mechanical, viral, or bacterial factors.

How do members experience osteoarthritis?

Top 5 symptoms reported by people with osteoarthritis*

Common symptoms
How bad it is
What people are taking for it

*Reports may be affected by other conditions and/or medication side effects. We ask about general symptoms (anxious mood, depressed mood, fatigue, pain, and stress) regardless of condition.

Top treatments taken by people for osteoarthritis*

Treatment
Type
How many have tried
Tried for
Treatment

(Outpatient PT)
Type
Physical Therapy
How many have tried
2,022
  • 10 patients have reported taking this treatment within the past 5 years
Tried for
osteoarthritis (10)
Treatment

(Naproxen Prescription)
Type
Over the Counter Drug
How many have tried
1,838
  • 5 patients have reported taking this treatment within the past 5 years
Tried for
osteoarthritis (5)

*Data from patients with osteoarthritis, who have ever reported treatments, ordered by their reporting frequency during the last 5 years.

Compare treatments taken by people with osteoarthritis*

Treatment
Perceived effectiveness
Side effects
Total evaluations
Tried for
Treatment

(Outpatient PT)
Perceived effectiveness
  • 0 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report major effectiveness of Physical Therapy for osteoarthritis (0%)
  • 1 evaluation from a osteoarthritis patient reports moderate effectiveness of Physical Therapy for osteoarthritis (33%)
  • 2 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report slight effectiveness of Physical Therapy for osteoarthritis (67%)
  • 0 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report none effectiveness of Physical Therapy for osteoarthritis (0%)
  • 0 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report that they could not tell effectiveness of Physical Therapy for osteoarthritis (0%)
for osteoarthritis (3 evaluations)
Side effects
  • 0 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report severe overall side effects for Physical Therapy (0%)
  • 1 evaluation from a osteoarthritis patient reports moderate overall side effects for Physical Therapy (33%)
  • 0 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report mild overall side effects for Physical Therapy (0%)
  • 2 evaluations from osteoarthritis patients report no overall side effects for Physical Therapy (66%)
pelvic painpelvic pain
Total evaluations
3
Tried for
osteoarthritis (10)
Treatment

(Naproxen Prescription)
Perceived effectiveness
No evaluations
Side effects
No evaluations
Total evaluations
0
Tried for
osteoarthritis (5)

*Data from patients with osteoarthritis, who have ever reported treatments, ordered by their reporting frequency during the last 5 years.

Who has osteoarthritis on PatientsLikeMe?

Age

AgeProportion# of patients
<201
20s42
30s286
40s1,131
50s3,165
60s4,553
70+3,034

Distribution of sex

Sex

SexProportion# of patients
Male1,311
Female10,866
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