Factors affecting The Pain of Osteoarthritis Patients

Background/Objectives: Osteoarthritis, which is the disease that results in the largest number of adult activity restriction days, is a chronic disease and a major disease in terms ofloss of gross domestic product. It causes severe pain and joint deformity in individuals. This study aimed to investigate nutrient intake in relation to patient pain in order to provide basic data for nutrition intervention necessary for patient pain control. Methods/Statistical analysis: This study is a secondary analysis study using the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2015), and data of 403 people were used in the final analysis. This study analyzed the sociodemographic characteristics, pain, and nutrient intake of osteoarthritis patients using the SPSS 23.0 Windows statistical program. Findings: The prevalence of osteoarthritis was high because the subjects of this study were women and their economic and education levels were low. Most osteoarthritis patients ingested less than the recommended daily intake of vitamin B1, iron, potassium, and calcium. For vitamin B1 and calcium, there were statistically meaningful correlations between pain and nutrient intake. The pain of osteoarthritis patients showed statistically significant differences according to the recommended daily intake levels of vitamin B1 and calcium. Meanwhile, no statistically significant differences were revealed according to the recommended daily intake levels of potassium and iron. Correlations were shown between the nutrient intake and pain of osteoarthritis patients, and the quality of life of the group with pain was lower than that of the group without pain. Improvements/Applications: Based on the findings of this study, studies to examine proper nutrient intake as an active measure for prevention of the induction and worsening of osteoarthritis patient pain are needed. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the establishment of intervention measures for the guidelines of osteoarthritis patients with pain and to their quality of life improvement.