Background Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common condition worldwide, resulting in significant morbidity but with limited effective disease-modifying therapies. The challenges and disability of patients living with OA may not poorly recognised.

Objectives We conducted a systematic search to identify consumer perceived needs for other services (not related to the provision of health information or health services) related to OA.

Methods Medline, PsychINFO, Embase and CINAHL were searched electronically from 1990–2015 using a combination of MeSH terms and key words to capture consumer perceived needs in adults related to “other services” and “osteoarthritis”. Articles were identified from the comprehensive search, with reference lists of reviews also examined. From relevant manuscripts, pertinent themes were identified and evidentiary data extracted to provide a systematic review of the current literature.

Results 931 papers were identified, of which 5 investigated consumer perceived needs for other services amongst people with OA using qualitative methods (semi-structured interviews and focus groups). Participants were predominantly female 49.6–65 years, recruited from the outpatient setting. Joints involved were knee or hand.

Six key areas of perceived need emerged, identified in at least 2 manuscripts, including;

1) assistance for activities of daily living: consumers' ability to perform daily activities was limited by pain, thus requiring reliance on others and support from partners, use of gadgets and assistive devices to improve function;

2) assistance to perform exercise/leisure activities: consumers identified an inability to continue activities due to pain, becoming more sedentary;

3) facilitation of social participation: consumers identified barriers that could be overcome to improve this, including limited transport options, lack of understanding from families and community and poor profile of OA in the media;

4) financial security: cost of health-seeking behaviour and impact of reduced work;

5) occupational needs: the requirement for flexibility of scheduling and the work environment;

6) transport: was noted to be limited relating to person transport, with hand OA limiting the ability to drive and also public transport due to poor mobility.

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Conclusions This demonstrates the breadth of impact that OA has on daily life. This work was limited as no studies focussed on the perceived need for services, but rather on problems experienced by participants. Thus perceived needs can only be extrapolated, as they have not been directly assessed. This highlights the dearth of data pertaining to knowledge of consumer perceived needs relating to other needs required to combat difficulty in performing daily tasks and social functioning, which may often be overlooked by the health care system. A better understanding of consumer perceived needs of other services is required for the health care system and support groups to better meet consumers' needs relating to OA.

Acknowledgement This work was supported by arthritis and osteoporosis Victoria. AE Wluka is the recipient of an Nhmrc career development fellowship (clinical level 2).

Disclosure of Interest None declared