News

This month, OrACORe and PIVOT released an updated model of the Osteoarthritis Risk Calculator (OA Risk C). This interactive, web-based education tool calculates a user’s risk of OA and of undergoing TKR, based on demographic and risk factor information. For more about how we developed this tool, click here.

Risk calculators exist for many prevalent conditions with modifiable risk factors, such as heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. However, no risk calculators previously existed for OA. The OA Risk Calculator provides information about risk factors and the chance of developing OA if these factors are modified. For those already diagnosed with OA, the calculator gives information about the user’s risk of total joint replacement.

The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) features a recent publication on the cost-effectiveness of several pain medications among older adults with OA and co-existing diabetes and heart disease.

The study, published in Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, found that naproxen-based treatments were more cost-effective in this study population than either tramadol or celecoxib. Click here to learn more.

Elena Losina, PhD, co-director of the Orthopaedic and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research (OrACORe) in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery, and director of the Policy and Innovation Evaluation in Orthopaedic Treatments (PIVOT) Center has received the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) Clinical Research Award for health policy and medical decision-making research in osteoarthritis. She received the award at the 2016 OARSI Congress in March in Amsterdam.

Losina is a founding director of BWH’s Policy Innovation eValuations in Orthopedic Treatments (PIVOT) Research Center and a principal investigator in the Methodology Core of the Robert Brigham Multidisciplinary Clinical Research Center at BWH. She also directs the Statistical Center for Biomarkers Consortium, an international collaboration to establish the prognostic value of biomarkers in osteoarthritis. She has published more than 300 peer-reviewed articles and leads a National Institutes of Health-funded multi-site project to conduct health policy evaluations related to surgical and non-surgical management of knee osteoarthritis.

OARSI is the leading osteoarthritis research organization in the world. The OARSI Clinical Research Award is given to one member each year in recognition of a body of clinical research of significant international impact

Affecting more than half of adults in the U.S., low back pain, osteoarthritis and musculoskeletal trauma are the three most common musculoskeletal conditions leading to emergency department and physician visits and hospital stays. Nearly $800 billion, or about 5 percent of the U.S. economy, goes towards diagnosing, treating, and managing musculoskeletal conditions.

“America spends more money on managing musculoskeletal conditions than it does on Social Security benefits for retired persons and their families,” said Elena Losina, PhD, professor of Orthopedic Surgery at BWH’s Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Harvard Medical School. “As people live longer and baby boomers age, this burden will increase.”

To help address these issues, BWH has launched the Policy and Innovation eValuation in Orthopedic Treatments (PIVOT) Center in the Department of Orthopedic Surgery. The research conducted by the PIVOT Center will help policy makers, physicians and patients to maximize treatment health benefits while reducing the overall economic burden of musculoskeletal diseases.