Patient education.

There are a wide range of opportunities for arthritis patient education including individual or group counselling, printed notes and the Internet. Over the past 20 years efforts have been made to evaluate patient education programmes and determine if they are effective and, more recently, whether they are cost-effective. In the short term (up to 6-12 months) structured educational programmes have been demonstrated to increase patient knowledge and improve desirable behaviours such as relaxation, exercise and compliance with medications. More controversial has been the long term outcome (>12 months) of these programmes. Some studies indicate continuing benefit, albeit at reduced levels, compared to earlier evaluation points. Other studies, including a recent Cochrane report suggest that the beneficial effects are not sustained. In conclusion, patient education programmes have a modest, but significant, benefit on patient knowledge and behaviour, at least in the short term.