PhD defence M.J.W. (Mark) van der Oest

The goal of this thesis was to find the influence of the patients’ mindset on the outcomes of the treatment of thumb base osteoarthritis. Through our partnership with Xpert clinics, we were able to utilize the biggest, most detailed data collection system containing hand surgery patients. This system was designed to optimize patient care and is used in daily practice to make data-informed treatment decisions and improve patients’ outcomes. This results in a rich dataset that we used to answer our research questions. 
We were primarily interested in how the patients’ mindset was associated with outcomes of treatments. We found that when patients expect more, catastrophize their pain less, are less anxious and depressed and have a positive perception of their illness, they report less pain and more hand function. This is the case for both surgical as nonsurgical treatment for thumb base osteoarthritis. With these first results, we were curious to see if change in the patients’ mindset during the treatment itself was associated with change in pain and hand function. We found that when patients become more optimistic about their outcome, experience less consequences (both physical and emotional) from their disease and become less concerned about their illness they report less pain and more hand function. The last findings suggest that actively changing the patients’ mindset will result in better outcomes.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall or in the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.