Health‐related quality of life and health service use among older adults with osteoarthritis

Objective To examine the relationship between health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) and health service use among older adults with osteoarthritis (OA). Methods Subjects were 9,043 Medicare‐enrolled survey respondents with a prior International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code for OA. Analyses examined the relationship of 5 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention HRQOL items (general health, mental health, pain, activity limitation, and sleep) to physician visits, prescription analgesic or antiinflammatory use, and arthroplasty during 1 year of followup. Results In analyses controlling for demographic and health‐related variables, greater pain frequency was associated with increased odds of visiting a physician, using analgesic or antiinflammatory drugs, and having arthroplasty (P < 0.001). Poorer general health was associated with increased odds of analgesic or antiinflammatory use but decreased odds of arthroplasty (P < 0.01). More days of activity limitation and poor mental health were associated with decreased odds of analgesic or antiinflammatory use (P < 0.01). Conclusion These HRQOL variables, especially pain frequency, can be valuable tools for estimating future health care use among older adults with OA.