title: Daily symptom management practices for arthritis used by older adults.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article describes the daily self-management practices of older adults with arthritis and examines the association of symptom experience with the use of self-management behaviors.
  
  
  METHODS
  197 African American and White participants completed a baseline interview and six sets of three follow-up daily-diary interviews at monthly intervals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Arthritis was reported by 63.5%. Arthritis self-management reported included complementary therapies, over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications, foods or beverages, and home remedies. Odds of implementing these self-care practices were greater on days with joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. Although, 78.0% and 72.4% of all participants reported staying in bed or cutting back on activities in response to joint symptoms, these self-management activities were not associated with having arthritis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Focusing on daily responses to symptoms demonstrates that older adults actively manage arthritis symptoms using a wide variety of measures, including complementary therapies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, USA. squandt@wakehealth.edu
authors.forename: Sara A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Quandt
authors.forename: Joseph G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Grzywacz
authors.forename: Rebecca H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Neiberg
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: Kathryn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Altizer
authors.forename: Ronny A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Arcury
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000368:Aged; D001168:Arthritis / Q000150:complications / Q000208:ethnology / Q000628:therapy*; D000529:Complementary Therapies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009657:North Carolina; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*