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Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of pain worldwide. Although exercise can improve symptoms, joint replacement surgery is often used to treat OA. In this study, Belinda J Lawford and colleagues analyzed whether the use of X-ray imaging during diagnosis influences how OA is managed. In this randomized controlled trial, participants were asked to imagine that they went to a general practitioner with a painful knee. They then received an knee OA diagnosis either based on clinical symptoms or based on X-ray images. The use of X-rays during diagnosis increased the belief of participants that they needed joint replacement surgery. This study therefore suggests that the method of diagnosis could impact OA management practices.
Image Credit: Tung Lam, pixabay
Citation: (2025) PLoS Medicine Issue Image | Vol. 22(2) March 2025. PLoS Med 22(2): ev22.i02. https://doi.org/10.1371/image.pmed.v22.i02
Published: March 7, 2025
Copyright: © 2025 . This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of pain worldwide. Although exercise can improve symptoms, joint replacement surgery is often used to treat OA. In this study, Belinda J Lawford and colleagues analyzed whether the use of X-ray imaging during diagnosis influences how OA is managed. In this randomized controlled trial, participants were asked to imagine that they went to a general practitioner with a painful knee. They then received an knee OA diagnosis either based on clinical symptoms or based on X-ray images. The use of X-rays during diagnosis increased the belief of participants that they needed joint replacement surgery. This study therefore suggests that the method of diagnosis could impact OA management practices.
Image Credit: Tung Lam, pixabay