P077 Developing a better explanation of osteoarthritis: results from a conjoint analysis of patient preferences

Abstract Background/Aims Despite the negative impact of osteoarthritis (OA) and existence of evidence-based guidelines, many patients and professionals lack clarity about the nature of OA and effective treatment strategies. This project aims to improve OA explanations in consultations and investigate the extent to which different explanation statements impact on intention to self-manage OA. Methods Participants registered at four general practices, aged ≥45 years, with a recorded consultation for OA in the previous two years were mailed a survey. The survey included eight pairs of potential OA explanation statements for participants to select the explanation that would most help them to self-manage their OA, alongside questions on socio-demographics, OA symptoms, comorbidity and health literacy. The OA explanations were designed using a partial-profile choice-based conjoint analysis (profile strength 4, comparison depth 3) from a set of 11 theoretically informed key attributes (Table 1). Each attribute contained two statements: one representing current information sources, and one a newly designed statement from our previous co-design work with patients and stakeholders. Results The survey response rate was 22% (428/1980) (average age = 65 years [SD = 10]; 66% female). The newer statement was preferred to the existing statement for 10 of the 11 statements (indicated by a positive regression coefficient) and 8 of these differences were statistically significant (p < 0.05) (Table 1). Sensitivity analyses (e.g. to adjust the model to allow for within person correlation of response, and to test for 2-way interactions between model attributes) did not change the findings from the primary model. P077 Table 1: Conjoint analysis results (main effects) Statement Number and Attribute Type Coefficient 95% CI - lower 95% CI - upper P-value S01: Definition 0.05 -0.02 0.11 0.152 S02: Causes -0.08 -0.15 -0.02 0.013 S03: Impact 0.14 0.07 0.21 0.000 S04: Severity 0.12 0.06 0.19 0.000 S05: Prognosis 0.08 0.01 0.15 0.019 S06: Prevalence 0.02 -0.04 0.09 0.495 S07: Treatment effectiveness 0.23 0.16 0.30 0.000 S08: Effectiveness of exercise/ weight loss 0.20 0.13 0.27 0.000 S09: Barriers to exercise/ weight loss 0.20 0.13 0.27 0.000 S10: Self-efficacy 0.23 0.16 0.30 0.000 S11: Consequences 0.30 0.23 0.37 0.000 Conclusion Patients with OA preferred the newer statements, with one exception (causes). The preferred statements have been discussed with the project’s Patient Advisory