None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Osteoarthritis of the knee is common in older people, giving rise to pain and loss of function. Exercise is a key treatment for knee osteoarthritis with studies revealing short-term benefits of exercise for pain and function. However, exercise is generally not effective in the longer-term due to reduced adherence. Following an initial period of more intensive exercise supervision, this randomised controlled trial will investigate whether a limited number of additional physiotherapy visits will improve outcomes with home exercise over 24 weeks.
Interventions
Prior to entering this trial, participants will have visited a physiotherapist on 14 occasions to be taught home exercises - either a neuromuscular exercise program that focused on functional exercise and balance/co-ordination and included six exercises or a quadriceps strengthening program that comprised five exercises. During this trial, participants will be asked to continue with their home exercise program three times per week (approx 30 minutes per session) for 24 weeks. An exercise log boo
Prior to entering this trial, participants will have visited a physiotherapist on 14 occasions to be taught home exercises - either a neuromuscular exercise program that focused on functional exercise and balance/co-ordination and included six exercises or a quadriceps strengthening program that comprised five exercises. During this trial, participants will be asked to continue with their home exercise program three times per week (approx 30 minutes per session) for 24 weeks. An exercise log book will be provided to participants with encouragement to record exercise sessions to assist with motivation. However, this will be an optional self monitoring tool. Participants will additionally receive two 30-minute booster physiotherapy exercise sessions at weeks 8 and 16 at the physiotherapists' clinic. At these visits, the physiotherapist will review the exercises and discuss progress with the participant. Discussion will also focus on barriers to home exercise performance and strategies to enhance adherence.
Sponsors
University of Melbourne
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
50 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
All participants who completed a clinical trial comparing the effects of a 12-week physiotherapist-supervised exercise program plus home exercises (either neuromuscular exercise or strengthening exercise) will be recruited (ACTRN12610000660088): People were eligible for the feeder trial if they reported average knee pain over the past week greater than or equal to 25 on a 100 mm visual analogue scale, had predominant pain/tenderness over the medial knee region, and had radiographic evidence of medial tibiofemoral joint OA with varus knee alignment
Exclusion criteria
(i) knee surgery or intra-articular corticosteroid injection within past six months; (ii) current or past (within four weeks) oral corticosteroid use; (iii) systemic arthritic conditions; (iv) history of hip or knee joint replacement or tibial osteotomy surgery; (v) any other condition affecting lower limb function; (vi) participation in a strengthening or neuromuscular exercise program within the past six months or planning to commence exercise or other treatment for knee OA; (vii) other non-pharmacological treatment for their knee pain in the past six months including physiotherapy, acupuncture, massage therapy; or (viii) unable to ambulate without a gait aid.
Outcome results
None listed