Effect Of Tai Chi On Pain Self-efficacy Related To Knee Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common form of arthritis in the United States and causes functional limitations and pain that worsen an individual's quality of life. While reducing the pain associated with OA is an important consideration in managing OA, understanding the effect of the treatment on an individual's self-efficacy to deal with the pain is also a consideration. PURPOSE To examine the effectiveness of a 6-week Tai Chi intervention on improving self-efficacy for dealing with the pain associated with OA. METHODS Female participants (n = 34, 63.4±7.8 yr) were recruited through community announcements and screened based on clinical criteria. All participants were enrolled in a 6-week Tai Chi intervention program (1 hr/session, 2×/wk). Self-efficacy measurements were assessed at the beginning (a), 3-weeks (b), and the end (c) of the intervention using the Chronic Pain Self-Efficacy Scale (CPSS). The CPSS has three categories; self-efficacy for pain management (pse), self-efficacy for physical function (fse), and self-efficacy for coping with symptoms (cse). Time effects were assessed with repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS Means±SD for the three measures at the three time points were as follows; pse: a= 72.4±21.7, b = 71.7±21.9, c = 76.9±23.5, fse: a = 78.1±21.5, b = 82.8±21.5, c = 84.5±23.1, cse: a = 73.9±18.9, b = 76.5± 19.5, c = 78.5±20.9. The analysis revealed no significant time effects on any of the self-efficacy measures: pse(2, 74) F = .83, p = .44, η =.03; fse(2, 74) F = 1.21, p = .30, η = .04; cse(2, 74) F = .73, p = .48, η =.02. CONCLUSION Self-efficacy scores tended to increase during the intervention; however, the magnitude of these changes was not statistically significant. It is possible that a short-term 6-week Tai Chi training program is not sufficient to improve self-efficacy. Additionally, the participants were functioning at a high level and possessed a high level of pain self-efficacy at the beginning of the intervention which may have led to a ceiling effect in improvement. Future investigations should examine participants with moderate or severe OA symptoms having more functional deficits and lower self-efficacy in a long-term intervention.