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Kathryn Burks

Publications and source records attributed to Kathryn Burks.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2005

Osteoarthritis in older adults: current treatments.

Although there is no cure for osteoarthritis, numerous treatments are available for symptom relief. Pharmacological treatments primarily focus on pain relief; however, in older adults there is continuing concern related to the risk of side effects and interactions with other medications. In contrast, non-pharmacological treatments, such as exercise, joint protection, and stress reduction, provide symptom relief with few side effects. In addition, alternative treatments such as nutritional supplements, herbal preparations, acupuncture, and tai chi are being investigated for their efficacy. Nurses should encourage patients to use a combination of treatments that provide optimum symptom relief with the fewest side effects.

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PubMedDate not supplied

Health concerns of men with osteoarthritis of the knee.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine health concerns of men with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee for use in the design of appropriate nursing interventions. DESIGN/SAMPLE: A one-group, descriptive design was used with a convenience sample of 104 men with a clinical diagnosis of OA of the knee. METHODS: All participants were recruited from a VA hospital/clinic located in Missouri. They were surveyed using the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales 2 (AIMS2). FINDINGS: The men in this sample were most concerned about pain, walking and bending, and mobility. They rated their present health as fair to good, but in 10 years they predicted their health would be worse and their arthritis would be a major problem. CONCLUSIONS: Based on these findings, interventions for men with OA should focus on strategies to deal with pain and decreased mobility and on fostering hope for the future.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Objective measurement of stiffness in knee osteoarthritis.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate an objective measure of knee joint stiffness in older adults with and without knee osteoarthritis. DESIGN: Methodological study of the modified pendulum test. SAMPLE: A convenience sample of community-dwelling older adults (n = 41). METHODS: Knee angle oscillation data were collected with a VICON motion analysis system and were used to calculate stiffness and damping coefficients and measures of joint stiffness. FINDINGS: Although some testing problems were encountered early in the study, useable data were obtained from 29 participants. Within-participant variability for calculated stiffness and damping coefficients was low (0.55% and 8.92%, respectively), whereas the between-participant variability was high for both the stiffness (99.45%) and damping (91.08%) coefficients. DISCUSSION: The modified pendulum test is a reliable method for evaluation of knee joint stiffness. This method can be used in collection of outcome data for future intervention studies addressing joint stiffness.

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