New tool for early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis

Family physicians and other health professionals have access to a new tool that will enable early diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis. Dr. Jolanda Cibere, a rheumatologist and CIHR-supported research scientist at the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, developed the tool after identifying the need for a standardized knee assessment for osteoarthritis. With 4 questions and 3 physical tests, physicians can diagnose knee osteoarthritis in patients with knee pain but whose x-rays show no sign of the condition. Dr. Cibere is making the tool available to the medical community in an educational video produced by the Centre. The video shows Dr.Cibere using the tool to conduct a knee assessment on the late actor Leslie Neilson. "I congratulate Dr. Cibere and the Arthritis Research Centre of Canada for its creative effort to put this new diagnostic tool in the hands of health professionals," said Dr. Jane Aubin, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis. "By helping to diagnose and treat knee osteoarthritis years earlier than usual, we will hopefully reduce the pain and disability caused by this condition." Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis, affecting 1 in 10 Canadians.