Abstract
BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder in the world, as it is appears to be prevalent among 80% of individuals over the age of 75. Although physical activities such as walking have been scientifically proven to improve physical function and arthritic symptoms, individuals with OA tend to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. There is therefore a need to improve knowledge translation in order to influence individuals to adopt effective self-management interventions, such as an adapted walking program.MethodsA single-blind, randomized control trial was conducted. Subjects (n = 222) were randomized to one of three knowledge translation groups: 1) Walking and Behavioural intervention (WB) (18 males, 57 females) which included the supervised community-based aerobic walking program combined with a behavioural intervention and an educational pamphlet on the benefits of walking; 2) Walking intervention (W) (24 males, 57 females) wherein participants only received the supervised community-based aerobic walking program intervention and the educational pamphlet; 3) Self-directed control (C) (32 males, 52 females) wherein participants only received the educational pamphlet. One-way analyses of variance were used to test for differences in quality of life, adherence, confidence, and clinical outcomes among the study groups at each 3 month assessment during the 12-month intervention period and 6-month follow-up period.ResultsThe clinical and quality of life outcomes improved among participants in each of the three comparative groups. However, there were few statistically significant differences observed for quality of life and clinical outcomes at long-term measurements at 12-months end of intervention and at 6- months post intervention (18-month follow-up). Outcome results varied among the three groups.ConclusionThe three groups were equivalent when determining the effectiveness of knowledge uptake and improvements in quality of life and other clinical outcomes. OA can be managed through the implementation of a proven effective walking program in existing community-based walking clubs.Trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials IRSCTNO9193542
Highlights
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder in the world, as it is appears to be prevalent among 80% of individuals over the age of 75
The hypothesis of this study was that a supervised community-based walking program would have a positive impact on participants with mild to moderate OA of the knee, if they walked regularly as stated in the recommendations of the Ottawa Panel [3,4,5]
Clinical outcome measures Quality of Life Short-Form 36 There were no statistically significant results between the three groups for quality of life (QOL) measured with the Short-Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) (Table 1) with the exceptions of the variables “physical role functioning”, “physical role”, “pain index” and “standardized physical component”
Summary
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder in the world, as it is appears to be prevalent among 80% of individuals over the age of 75. Physical activities such as walking have been scientifically proven to improve physical function and arthritic symptoms, individuals with OA tend to adopt a sedentary lifestyle. Various PA programs for OA have shown significant and beneficial effects on QOL at 2 and 3 months [18,19,20,21,22,23,24] This effect was not maintained after a period of unsupervised PA [20,21,25]. According to Hurley [26], “exercise benefits people with OA while people are exercising; when they stop exercising the benefits can be maintained for a short time, but the gains are likely to be lost overtime unless individuals are actively encouraged to continue exercising”
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