Management of knee osteoarthritis in general practice in Denmark - Perceptions of patients and general practitioners

PhD defence by Astrid Maria Carolina Trulsson

Assessment Committee

Associate professor Anne Holm, Department of Public Health, University of Copenhagen (Chairperson)
Professor Janus Laust Thomsen, Aalborg University
Professor Krysia Dziedzic, Keele University

Supervisors

Associate Professor Anne Møller
Professor Søren Thorgaard Skou
Professor Susanne Dalsgaard Reventlow
Associate Professor Torsten Risør

Department

Department of Public Health

Graduate Programme

Public Health and Epidemiology

Place

Building: 3, Room: Auditorium, Slagelse Psychiatric Hospital, West Zealand University Hospital, Fælledvej 6, 4200 Slagelse

Email address to gain access to the thesis: astt@regsj.dk.
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Short description of the thesis

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a prevalent condition and a leading cause of pain and disability worldwide. General practitioners (GPs) play a central role in its management. Although clinical guidelines recommend non-surgical management as first-line treatment, uptake in primary care is low.
The aim of this thesis was to explore GP and patient perceptions and experiences of knee OA and its management in Danish general practice, drawing on qualitative interviews with GPs and patients.
The findings support and extend previous qualitative research showing that knee OA management is influenced by patient-, interpersonal- and structural-level factors. By bringing together patient and GP perspectives, the thesis highlights the complexity of knee OA management and how disease understandings, lived experiences, clinical encounters and organizational contexts influence perceptions of care and engagement with treatment.