OA Task force steps forward

The second annual meeting of the International Osteoarthritis Task Force (OA Task Force) led by the International Osteoarthritis Foundation (OAFI), the Arthritis Foundation, and  ​​with the participation of the Pan American League of Rheumatology Associations (PANLAR), the Spanish Rheumatology League (LIRE), the Association of Osteoporosis and Osteoarthritis Patients (AECOSAR), and the Foundation Arthrose (Belgium), was held on 9 October at CosmoCaixa, Barcelona.

The Vice President of the Arthritis Foundation, Guy Eakin, and Dr. Xavier Carné and Dr. Jordi Monfort on behalf of OAFI, were in charge of leading the meeting, which took place within the framework of the 1st International Congress of Osteoarthritis Patients, organized by OAFI.

Global OA projects

The purpose of the meeting was to review the status of the projects launched by the group with the aim of improving the quality of life of osteoarthritis patients. Currently, the group’s researchers are working on the publication of a systematic review on the quality of life of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. The first results of this review point to a notable lack of information on the patient’s perception of his or her own disease.

This is the second major project of the working group. In 2017, a global survey on the quality of life will be conducted among osteoarthritis patients worldwide. In a first phase, the survey will be launched in seven countries: the United States, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Italy and Spain and will be expanded in 2018 to other countries. The results of the survey will be used to focus on patients’ real problems and to work together to solve them.

Another ongoing project is an observational study on the association between knee osteoarthritis and diabetes.

1st International Congress for Osteoarthritis Patients

On 9 and 10 October, the 1st International Congress for Osteoarthritis Patients, organised by the OAFI Foundation, was held at CosmoCaixa, Barcelona. For the first time, an event aimed exclusively at osteoarthritis patients was held with the aim of exposing the issues that really concern them and proposing new activities for them to lead a healthy and active life.