NCT02370667

A Biomechanical Exercise Program for Knee OA

Clinical and Tissue Outcomes of a Biomechanical Exercise Program for Knee Osteoarthritis

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 31 (actual)
• Sponsor: McMaster University · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 50 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Prescribing exercise for people with painful knee osteoarthritis (OA) is essential for pain management, improved function, and chronic disease prevention. Exercise that decreases joint exposure to damaging loading while eliciting adequate muscular activation for strength improvements is ideal. The purpose of this 3-arm RCT is to compare mobility, strength, pain, and MRI outcomes between the low-loading biomechanical exercise program (BE), a traditional exercise program for knee OA (TE), and a control group completing meditation classes (M).

Detailed description

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a common joint disease affecting 1 in 10 Canadians. Osteoarthritis commonly presents in the knee joint and is associated with mobility limitations, pain, and an increased risk of other chronic health conditions such as heart disease. It is critical to implement exercise for people with knee OA as it can be an effective method for improving pain, mobility, and cardiovascular health. A biomechanical exercise program using static yoga postures has been established in the investigators lab based on minimizing damaging knee joint loads, while effectively exercising the musculature around the knee joint. The investigators pilot project (REB#13-510) showed that a 12-week yoga program using these biomechanical exercises improved pain and mobility while keeping the medial joint loading well below that experienced during normal level walking. The next step with this exercise program is to compare clinical and tissue outcomes with that of a regularly prescribed aerobic and strengthening program, as well as a control group completing meditation classes. The investigators aim to identify differences in clinical mobility performance outcomes, muscle and fat volumes using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and cartilage integrity using MRI between the three groups using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design.

Conditions

• Osteoarthritis, Knee

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	Biomechanical Exercise (BE)	A biomechanical exercise program shown to decrease joint loading will be administered 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Outcomes will include mobility performance; pain; muscle and fat volumes, and cartilage morphology using MRI; strength; cardiovascular fitness; and gait analysis.
OTHER	Traditional Exercise (TE)	A traditional exercise program for people with knee OA will be administered 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Outcomes will include mobility performance; pain; muscle and fat volumes, and cartilage morphology using MRI; strength; cardiovascular fitness; and gait analysis.
OTHER	Meditation Control (M)	A meditation program acting as a control will be administered 3 times a week for 12 weeks. Outcomes will include mobility performance; pain; muscle and fat volumes, and cartilage morphology using MRI; strength; cardiovascular fitness; and gait analysis.

Timeline

• Start date: 2015-08-01
• Primary completion: 2016-07-01
• Completion: 2016-07-01
• First posted: 2015-02-25
• Last updated: 2017-03-10
• Results posted: 2017-03-10

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Canada