Assessment of recommendations in the whole survey and by specialty, expressed in mm on a visual analogue scale, where 0 = “I totally disagree with this recommendation”, and 100 = “I totally agree with this recommendation”
| Survey (total) | GPs | Rheumatologists | Rehabilitators | Orthopaedic surgeons | p Value* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Values are mean (SD). | ||||||
| *p Values for Fisher’s test of country effect (analysis of variance). | ||||||
| GP, general practitioner; HA, hyaluronic acid; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; SYSADOA, symptomatic slow acting drugs for osteoarthritis. | ||||||
| No of questionnaires | 4204 | 2213 | 790 | 260 | 845 | |
| Tailored treatment | 93 (11) | 93 (11) | 94 (10) | 95 (8) | 93 (12) | 0.00095 |
| Combined treatment | 91 (15) | 92 (12) | 94 (11) | 93 (11) | 86 (20) | <0.0001 |
| Paracetamol first | 82 (24) | 84 (21) | 81 (25) | 81 (27) | 75 (28) | <0.0001 |
| NSAIDs | 83 (21) | 84 (19) | 84 (22) | 82 (25) | 80 (24) | 0.00001 |
| Steroid injection | 76 (27) | 75 (26) | 90 (15) | 79 (25) | 67 (33) | <0.0001 |
| SYSADOA/structure | 77 (26) | 76 (24) | 81 (25) | 82 (23) | 73 (29) | <0.0001 |
| HA/SYSADOA small effect | 78 (25) | 78 (25) | 78 (26) | 81 (23) | 79 (26) | 0.15537 |
| Non-pharmacological treatments | 91 (14) | 92 (13) | 93 (11) | 94 (11) | 88 (18) | <0.0001 |
| Exercises recommended | 88 (18) | 89 (16) | 92 (13) | 91 (17) | 81 (24) | <0.0001 |
| Total knee replacement | 92 (14) | 90 (14) | 92 (13) | 93 (13) | 93 (13) | <0.0001 |