This study was to examine the effects of a Self-management program on physical function and quality of life of women with knee osteoarthritis.

The participants for this study, who had knee osteoarthritis, were recruited from an arthritis clinic, at a university hospital located in S city, Korea between February 16, 2004 and June 15, 2004. Seventeen subjects in the control group received no intervention and 18 subjects in for experimental group received an individual Self-management program. The self-management program consisted of dietary education and home-based exercise; walking and resistance exercise. The subjects performed this program 5 times per week during 8 weeks and recorded a diary for diet and exercise. In order to verify the effects of the Self-management program, physical function and Quality of life as a dependent variable were measured at three points in time: before, week4 and week8 after the interventions.

There were significant increases on physical function (F=5.08, p=.002) and significant interaction effects (F=7.42, p=.002) in the intervention group over the three measurement points in time. In addition, there were significant increases on quality of life (F=8.08, p=.002) and significant interaction effects (F=4.89, p=.016) in the intervention group over the three measurement points in time.

This study revealed that a Self-management program can be used as an efficient nursing intervention for women with knee osteoarthritis.