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Exercise Plus Duloxetine for Knee Osteoarthritis

A Feasibility and Pilot Study of Combined Treatment Protocol Using Aerobic Exercise and Duloxetine in Older Adults With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis and Comorbid Depression

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04111627
Enrollment
43
Registered
2019-10-01
Start date
2021-10-07
Completion date
2025-08-11
Last updated
2025-10-07

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Depression, Knee Osteoarthritis

Brief summary

This study evaluates the addition of duloxetine to aerobic exercise in the treatment of symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and depressive symptoms in adults. All participants will receive the receive the treatment protocol, which will first be evaluated in terms of feasibility and then pilot tested.

Detailed description

Symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA) affects 10% of men and 13% of women 60 years or older, and depressive symptoms are common, occurring in one-fifth of these patients. Depressive symptoms worsen knee OA disease severity and are a barrier to pain management and engagement in physical activity. Guidelines recommend depression treatment in older adults with knee OA but provide no direction on how to simultaneously manage the co-occurrence of physical and mental morbidity. Treatment recommendations advise exercise to manage pain and disability and improve psychosocial health in knee OA patients; however, compliance to exercise programs is low in persons with chronic pain and disability and is only made worse by comorbid depression. Adherence is critical to the efficacy of depression treatments using exercise training, and no such exercise program has ever been designed for and tested in OA patients with co-occurring depressive symptoms in a way to enhance compliance. Duloxetine is the only antidepressant medication indicated for pain management in knee OA patients that has demonstrated efficacy and tolerability when treating depression in older adults and is a viable pharmacological complement to exercise. There are no protocols that combine treatments using interventions that affect symptoms of both knee OA and depression, and the study goals are to evaluate the feasibility of and then pilot test a protocol comprised of aerobic exercise training plus duloxetine for the treatment of symptomatic knee OA and comorbid depression.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALAerobic exercise

Participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and depressive symptoms will be enrolled in a progressive walking program designed to reduce pain and disability and improve psychosocial health.

DRUGDuloxetine

Duloxetine is an FDA-approved selective serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor antidepressant approved for the treatment of neuropathic pain in symptomatic knee osteoarthritis as well as depression in adults. Participants with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and depressive symptoms will receive duloxetine to decrease pain and depression severity to enhance their ability to engage in aerobic exercise.

Sponsors

National Institute on Aging (NIA)
CollaboratorNIH
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. English speaking 2. 40 years or older 3. Symptomatic knee osteoarthritis fulfilling 1986 American College of Rheumatology criteria 4. No plan for surgical knee osteoarthritis intervention within six months of enrollment 5. Major depressive disorder satisfying diagnostic criteria according to the DSM-V 6. Ability to participate in a supervised aerobic exercise program

Exclusion criteria

1. Already performing aerobic or resistive exercise 2x/week or more 2. Taking duloxetine, antipsychotics, benzodiazepines, or opioid analgesics 3. Other medications deemed by study team to endanger the health of the participant or unduly confound the results 4. Cognitive impairment (Mini-Mental State Examination score \< 20) 5. Past or current bipolar disorder or psychotic symptoms according to the DSM-V 6. Substance abuse disorder or suicidal ideation within the previous year 7. Not able to participate in a supervised exercise program based on the presence of unstable angina, recent MI (within last 3 months), hemiparetic gait, inability to walk at least 1mph on treadmill safely, poorly controlled hypertension (resting blood pressure \> 190/110), peripheral arterial disease with current foot or leg ulcers, or cardiac or pulmonary disease with exercise tolerance NYHA class 3 or higher. 8. Active cancer that is currently undergoing treatment (receiving chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy) 9. Pregnant or lactating women 10. Other conditions deemed by study team to endanger the health of the participant or unduly confound the results

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Knee Osteoarthritis Outcomes Scale (KOOS) pain subscaleChange from Baseline Pain Severity at 12 weeksThe self-reported KOOS pain subscale is sensitive to changes in knee OA symptoms, and consists of nine items scored on a Likert scale (0 \[No problems\] to 4 \[Extreme Problems\]) that ranges from 0-36, with higher values indicating greater severity.
Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D)Change from Baseline Depression Severity at 12 weeksThe HAM-D is clinician-administered, 21-item questionnaire, designed to rate the severity of depression in patients. Individual scores are based on the first 17 items, each with a possible score of 0-4 (0=Absent; 4=Extreme Symptoms) or 0-2 (0=Absent; 2=Frequent), yielding an overall range of 0-54. Higher scores indicate greater depression severity.

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 9, 2026