Recognizing OA as a clinical diagnosis and the remarkable impact it has on lives and society is important to understanding the seriousness of this disease. Early detection and identifying the risk factors for development or a more rapid progression of OA is critical to patient outcomes.  

When this module is completed, you will receive the “Module 1: The Burden of OA” digital badge. However, to receive one CME credit, you must complete all five modules.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this session, learners will be able to:

• Recognize the burden of OA globally
• Identify the leading risk factors for the development of disease
• Understand how the disease typically presents in the clinic
• Understand that this is a clinical diagnosis, identified through history and examination
• Identify key risk factors that are important in identifying those at risk of more rapid progression
• Understand that this is a disease associated with increased mortality and associated with a number of comorbidities

Module One Syllabus:

• Burden of OA in the population
  • Definition of OA
  • High prevalence of OA globally (GBD)
  • Risk factors for OA (local mechanical loading / systemic factors)
  • Prevalence and risk factors rising (obesity, aging, physical inactivity, knee injury)
  • Downstream effects of painful OA (fatigue, mood, sleep, disability)
  • Significant impact on disability (DALYs)
  • Economic burden to individuals / society (lost productivity, surgery, etc.)
• OA in the setting of other common chronic conditions (e.g., diabetes, CVD, obesity, depression)
  • Clustering of conditions due to common risk factors (obesity, aging)
  • Impact of OA on comorbid conditions and their outcomes
    • Impact of OA on mobility (level of physical activity)
    • Relationship of OA hip/knee to incident diabetes, diabetes complications, CVD events, depression, all-cause mortality and mediating effect of walking difficulty. 
      • OA as a potential modifiable risk factor for diabetes, CVD, comorbidity related poor outcomes

Meet the Instructors

• 
  Gillian Hawker

  Dr. Gillian Hawker is the Sir John and Lady Eaton Professor and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute. She is a rheumatologist and health services researcher whose research has focused on advancing care for people with osteoarthritis (OA) along three broad themes: 1. Elucidating the determinants and consequences of care for people with painful hip and knee OA, with a particular interest in appropriateness of use of total joint arthroplasty; 2. Understanding – and improving the measurement of - the OA patient experience, including the downstream effects of OA pain on sleep, mood, fatigue, activity limitations, and quality of care; and more recently 3. The inter-relationship of OA with other common chronic conditions which commonly co-occur in people with OA, e.g. diabetes and cardiovascular disease, on OA care and outcomes. I am also a passionate advocate for advancing the academic careers of women in medicine. She has published almost 300 peer-reviewed articles and in 2020 was the recipient of the OARSI Award for Clinical Research.

• 
  David Hunter

  Professor Hunter is a rheumatology clinician researcher whose main research focus is clinical and translational research in osteoarthritis (OA). He is the Florance and Cope Chair of Rheumatology and Professor of Medicine at University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital. He is ranked as the leading expert in the world on osteoarthritis on expertscape.com and is the section editor for UpToDate osteoarthritis. He holds a medical degree and Master of Sports Medicine from the University of New South Wales, a fellowship in Rheumatology at the Royal Australian College of Physicians and earned a Masters of Medical Science (Clinical Epidemiology) from the University of Newcastle and received his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2001. He is an editor for leading international journals in his field, has authored books on osteoarthritis and has over 500 publications in peer reviewed journals.