Electrically heated mittens may improve hand pain in osteoarthritis patients, reports study

A new study published in the British Medical Journal showed that when compared to control mittens, the 6-week use of electrically heated mittens did not result in improve physical hand function in osteoarthritis patients. Hand osteoarthritis is a prevalent age-related joint condition that mostly affects the distal interphalangeal joints of the second to fifth fingers as well as the first carpometacarpal joint.

The incidence of symptomatic hand osteoarthritis rises with age, affecting 16% of women and 8% of men between the ages of 40 and 84. Osteoarthritis in the hands causes discomfort, decreased physical function, and a lower quality of life in terms of health. In contrast to control mittens (heating components detached), this study evaluated the impact of electrically heated mittens on key outcomes in individuals with hand osteoarthritis like hand function and other significant symptoms.

A total of 200 patients with hand osteoarthritis, aged 42 to 90, were examined in this randomized experiment. 100 individuals were allocated to the control group, and another 100 to the intervention group. For 6 weeks, wear electrically heated gloves or control mittens (with the heating components unplugged) for at least 15 minutes every day.

At 6 weeks, the main outcome was the change in hand function as assessed by the Australian/Canadian hand osteoarthritis index (AUSCAN; score 0-100 points) function subscale. The AUSCAN hand pain subscale (scoring 0-100 points), the global evaluation of hand osteoarthritis-related issues (0-100 visual analogue scale), and grip strength (newtons) after six weeks were important secondary outcomes. A hierarchical gatekeeping strategy was used to analyze secondary outcomes.

The key findings of this study were:

1. The trial was finished by 95 participants in the control group and 91 in the intervention group.

2. The mean body mass index of the participants was 24.9, they were 87% female, and their average age was 71 years.

3. 10 years were the median length of illness. In favor of heated mittens, the group difference for the change in AUSCAN function at week six was 3.0 points.

4. There was a 5.9-point group difference in favor of heated mittens for the primary secondary outcome, which is the change in the AUSCAN hand pain score from baseline.

5. Global ratings of hand osteoarthritis-related issues and grip strength did not change across the groups; the groups’ differences in favor of heated mittens were 2.8 points and 2.3 newtons, respectively.

Overall, regarding grip strength and the overall rating of hand osteoarthritis-related issues, heated mittens did not offer any extra advantages. Hand pain showed a slight improvement, but this might have been exaggerated.

Source:

Bartholdy, C., Døssing, A., Stisen, Z. R., Nielsen, S. M., Christensen, R., Danneskiold-Samsøe, B., Bliddal, H., Henriksen, M., & Ellegaard, K. (2024). Effect of heated mittens on physical hand function in people with hand osteoarthritis: randomised controlled trial. In BMJ (p. e078222). BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-078222