Patient questionnaires in osteoarthritis: what patients teach doctors about their osteoarthritis on a multidimensional health assessment questionnaire (MDHAQ) in clinical trials and clinical care.

A patient history generally provides the most important information in diagnosis and management of patients with most rheumatic diseases, including osteoarthritis (OA). Patient history components can be expressed as quantitative, structured, "scientific" data, rather than "subjective" narrative descriptions, using patient self-report questionnaires. The Western Ontario McMaster (WOMAC) questionnaire is used in all OA clinical trials, and the...