title: Osteoarthritis.
abstract: Osteoarthritis is a chronic degenerative disorder characterised by cartilage loss. It is extremely prevalent in society and is a major cause of disability. It is important to treat osteoarthritis effectively using a multidisciplinary approach tailored to the patient's needs. This paper reviews current thinking on the aetiology, pathogenesis, investigations, and management of osteoarthritis. The paper also discusses the challenges for developing good quality outcome measures for use in large scale multicentre clinical trials for new osteoarthritis treatments, especially disease modifying osteoarthritis drugs.
authors.affiliation: Academic Centre for Medical Education, University College London. i.haq@acme.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Haq
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dacre
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis; D015519:Bone Density; D002356:Cartilage / Q000737:chemistry; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods; D004032:Diet; D015444:Exercise; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers