Abstract: Objective: To identify self-management patterns of pain in patients with Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) , and to provide evidence for targeted self-management strategies. Methods: A stratified multi-stage random cluster sampling method was adopted to conduct a cross-sectional survey among 1738 middle-aged and elderly people in 2 cities of Hunan province from February 15, 2020 to May 31, 2020. The Knee Discomfort Self-management Behavior Self-Rating Scale were used to conduct a cross-sectional survey and potential profile analysis was conducted on the results. Results: The self-management behaviors for pain were classified into four latent categories, including "Conventional Self-Management Pattern" (22.8%), "High Self-Management-High Symptom Anxiety Pattern" (10.9%), "Low Self-Management-Low Symptom Anxiety Pattern" (31.4%), and "Professional Self-Management Pattern" (35.0%). Significant differences existed across categories in BMI, ethnicity, educational attainment, monthly per capita income, number of chronic conditions, frequency and severity of pain and discomfort symptoms (all P<0.05). Conclusion: KOA patients' self-management behaviors for pain can be categorized into four latent groups. Tailored self-management strategies should be developed based on patients' socioeconomic status, disease characteristics and whether they are overweight, incorporating both direct and indirect experiential learning.

Key words: Knee Osteoarthritis; uncomfortable symptom of pain; self-management; latent profile analysis