Context: Osteoarthritis is an intractable joint disease that is characterized by chronic pain,
rigidity and functional disability with significant costs and a great impact on health and quality of
life. In order to mitigate osteoarthritis patients' disability and complaints, they must adhere to
optimal self-care. Aim: To evaluate the effect of self-care program on pain intensity and functional
ability of osteoarthritis patients. Method: The study used a quasi- experimental design, specifically
employing a pre/post-test methodology on a purposive sample of (80) patient with osteoarthritis
admitted within four months to orthopedic department and orthopedic outpatient clinics at Benha
University Hospital, Qualubyia Governorate, Egypt. Tools: Four tools were utilized for data
collection: Structured interview questionnaire, osteoarthritis self-care practice scale, numeric pain
rating scale and functional ability of osteoarthritis patients (Katz activities of daily living and the
lawton instrumental activities of daily living scale). Results showed a statistically significant
increase in the total patients' knowledge level both immediately and post 2 months of self-care
program implementation (P ≤0.05). There was a statistically significant enhancement in the total
self-care practice mean score, whereas preprogram the total mean score was 21.33 ± 7.09 indicating
unsatisfactory level of practice which increased immediate and post 2 months of self-care program
implementation to 37.13 ± 6.25 and 36.03 ± 6.27 respectively indicating satisfactory level of
practice (P