[ad_1]
TUESDAY, December 29, 2020 (HealthDay News) – Step-by-step exercise program leads to modest improvements in symptoms of osteoarthritis in the knee, according to a study published online on Dec. 29 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Kelli D. Allen, Ph.D., of the Durham VA Health Care System in North Carolina, and colleagues conducted a randomized controlled trial at two US Department of Veterans Affairs sites involving 345 patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis of the knee. Participants were randomly assigned in a 2: 1 ratio to a stepwise exercise program for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee (STEP-KOA) or to an arthritis education control group. The STEP-KOA intervention included three months of an Internet exercise program (step 1); three months of physical activity coaching calls every two weeks (stage 2) for those who did not meet the response criteria for improvement in pain and function after stage 1; and in-person physiotherapy visits (step 3) for those who did not meet the response criteria after step 2.
The researchers found that 150 (65 percent) of the 230 participants in the STEP-KOA group went to step 2 and 81 (35 percent) went to step 3. For the full sample, the index baseline osteoarthritis estimated for Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) was 47.5. The WOMAC score estimated at nine months of follow-up was 6.8 points lower in the STEP-KOA group compared to the control group.
“This type of phased care strategy could conserve health care resources and tailor programs to patient needs,” the authors write.
Summary / Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)
Source link
