Osteoarthritis in people over 16: diagnosis and management—updated summary of NICE guidance

### What you need to know Osteoarthritis is a common condition that causes joint pain and stiffness and often has a negative impact on a person’s quality of life. More than 8.5 million people have osteoarthritis in the UK.1 Multisite peripheral joint pain is common, with the knee, hip, hand, and foot joint sites being most commonly affected.2 This article summarises the most recent recommendations from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guideline for the diagnosis and management of osteoarthritis.3 The recommendations cover all joint sites apart from spinal osteoarthritis. The update emphasises the importance of core treatments of therapeutic exercise and weight management in the management of osteoarthritis, alongside information and support and the use of pharmacological management only if needed to support non-pharmacological treatments. NICE recommendations are based on systematic reviews of best available evidence and explicit consideration of cost effectiveness. When minimal evidence is available, recommendations are based on the Guideline Committee’s (GC) experience and opinion of what constitutes good practice. Evidence levels for the recommendations are given in italic in square brackets. Definitions of evidence certainty are given in box 1. Box 1 ### GRADE Working Group grades of evidenceRETURN TO TEXT