Abstract | BACKGROUND: The mechanisms underlying pain reductions following exercise therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) are poorly understood. One mechanism could be changes in mechanical knee joint loading. OBJECTIVE: To investigate if a neuromuscular exercise therapy and patient education intervention could alter knee joint loading assessed by Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DXA) in people with knee OA. METHODS: Participants with symptomatic knee OA were evaluated before and 26 weeks after an 8-week supervised neuromuscular exercise therapy and patient education intervention (Good Life with OsteoArthritis in Denmark). DXA scans were used to estimate the medial-to-lateral tibial plateau bone mineral density (BMD) ratio. The Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score was used to assess improvements in knee pain, symptoms, physical function, and knee-related quality of life. Changes in physical function were assessed with the 30-second chair stand test and the 40-meter fast paced walk test. RESULTS: Of 42 participants recruited, 30 (21 females, mean age 64 ± 7.9 years) had full data available. Medial-to-lateral tibial BMD ratio increased non-significantly by 0.02 (95% CI -0.01 to 0.06) (indicating higher medial load) from baseline to 26-weeks follow-up. Participants had statistically significant improvements of 21% in pain, 17% in symptoms, 14% in ADL, 17% in knee-related quality of life, 13% in chair stand ability, and 6% in walking speed. CONCLUSIONS: In this exploratory cohort study, following an 8-weeks supervised exercise therapy and patient education intervention, the medial-to-lateral tibial BMD ratio did not seem to change.
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Authors | Julie Rønne Pedersen, Søren T Skou, Ewa M Roos, Najia Shakoor, Jonas Bloch Thorlund |
Journal | Physiotherapy theory and practice
(Physiother Theory Pract)
Vol. 39
Issue 6
Pg. 1205-1214
(Jun 2023)
ISSN: 1532-5040 [Electronic] England |
PMID | 35139736
(Publication Type: Journal Article)
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Topics |
- Female
- Humans
- Osteoarthritis, Knee
(diagnostic imaging, therapy)
- Absorptiometry, Photon
- Cohort Studies
- Quality of Life
- Patient Education as Topic
- Knee Joint
- Exercise Therapy
- Pain
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