Developing strategic priorities in osteoarthritis research: Proceedings and recommendations arising from the 2017 Australian Osteoarthritis Summit

Background

There is a pressing need to enhance osteoarthritis (OA) research to find ways of alleviating its enormous individual and societal impact due to the high prevalence, associated disability, and extensive costs.

Methods

Potential research priorities and initial rankings were pre-identified via surveys and the 1000Minds process by OA consumers and the research community. The OA Summit was held to decide key research priorities that match the strengths and expertise of the Australian OA research community and align with the needs of consumers. Facilitated breakout sessions were conducted to identify initiatives and strategies to advance OA research into agreed priority areas, and foster collaboration in OA research by forming research networks.

Results

From the pre-Summit activities, the three research priority areas identified were: treatment adherence and behaviour change, disease modification, and prevention of OA. Eighty-five Australian and international leading OA experts participated in the Summit, including specialists, allied health practitioners, researchers from all states of Australia representing both universities and medical research institutes; representatives from Arthritis Australia, health insurers; and persons living with OA. Through the presentations and discussions during the Summit, there was a broad consensus on the OA research priorities across stakeholders and how these can be supported across government, industry, service providers and consumers.

Conclusion

The Australian OA Summit brought consumers, experts and opinion leaders together to identify OA research priorities, to enhance current research efforts by fostering collaboration that offer the greatest potential for alleviating the disease burden.