Bone and Joint Institute
The effectiveness of joint-protection programs on pain, hand function, and grip strength levels in patients with hand arthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
4-1-2019
Journal
Journal of Hand Therapy
Volume
32
Issue
2
First Page
194
Last Page
211
URL with Digital Object Identifier
10.1016/j.jht.2018.09.012
Abstract
© 2018 Hanley & Belfus Study Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis. Introduction: Joint protection (JP) has been developed as a self-management intervention to assist people with hand arthritis to improve occupational performance and minimize joint deterioration over time. Purpose of the Study: We examined the effectiveness between JP and usual care/control on pain, hand function, and grip strength levels for people with hand osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: A search was performed in 5 databases from January 1990 to February 2017. Two independent assessors applied Cochrane's risk of bias tool, and a Grading of Recommendations Assessement, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach was adopted. Results: For pain levels at short term, we found similar effects between JP and control standardized mean difference (SMD; −0.00, 95% confidence interval [CI]: −0.42 to 0.42, I2 = 49%), and at midterm and long-term follow-up, JP was favored over usual care SMD (−0.32, 95% CI: −0.53 to −0.11, I2 = 0) and SMD (−0.27, 95% CI: −0.41 to −0.12, I2 = 9%), respectively. For function levels at midterm and long-term follow-up, JP was favored over usual care SMD (−0.49, 95% CI: −0.75 to −0.22, I2 = 34%) and SMD (−0.31, 95% CI: −0.50 to −0.11, I2 = 56%), respectively. For grip strength levels, at long term, JP was inferior over usual care mean difference (0.93, 95% CI: −0.74 to 2.61, I2 = 0%). Conclusions: Evidence of very low to low quality indicates that the effects of JP programs compared with usual care/control on pain and hand function are too small to be clinically important at short-, intermediate-, and long-term follow-ups for people with hand arthritis.
