NCT06193343

Steps Towards Osteoarthritis Prevention

Steps Towards Osteoarthritis Prevention: A Pilot Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 56 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Georgia · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 16 Years – 40 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Optimal knee joint loading, which refers to the forces acting on the knee caused by daily activities such as daily steps, plays an essential role in maintaining knee articular cartilage health and reducing the risk of osteoarthritis (OA). After anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction (ACLR), individuals take fewer daily steps as compared to uninjured controls resulting in insufficient knee joint loading to joint tissues, but it is unclear how changes in daily steps impact knee joint cartilage health in OA development. Therefore, the overall single arm, longitudinal pre-test post-test study objective is to determine the mechanistic links between knee joint loading as measured by daily steps and comprehensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of knee joint cartilage health post-ACLR. The central hypothesis is that individuals post-ACLR who take low daily steps will demonstrate deconditioned, less resilient cartilage characterized by poor tibiofemoral cartilage composition and greater cartilage strain.

Detailed description

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a leading cause of disability. Identifying modifiable mechanisms of poor knee joint health development for disease prevention strategies are critical to improving long-term health. Aberrant mechanical loading has been theorized as a primary risk factor for knee OA. Most studies primarily focus on mechanical mechanisms of excessive joint loading in OA development. However, recent evidence suggests that joint underloading may also play a role. The effects of low loading frequency assessed via daily steps in real world settings on knee joint health is an understudied parameter of aberrant mechanical loading in individuals at risk for OA. Individuals with anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury who undergo ACL reconstruction (ACLR) surgery are a representative population to assess the effects of low loading frequency on knee joint health because they are at elevated risk for posttraumatic OA development and demonstrate low daily steps compared to uninjured individuals. Therefore, the overall study objective is to determine the mechanistic links between joint loading frequency and comprehensive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures of knee joint cartilage health in individuals post-ACLR. The central hypothesis is that individuals post-ACLR who take low daily steps will demonstrate deconditioned, less resilient cartilage characterized by poor tibiofemoral cartilage composition and greater cartilage strain which represent equally important, but independent measures of cartilage health. Furthermore, increasing daily steps using a 16-week daily step promotion paradigm in individuals post-ACLR who underload (\<7000 daily steps which is predictive of physical inactivity) will recondition cartilage by improving tibiofemoral cartilage composition and strain. The proposed study aims to determine: 1) associations between daily steps with tibiofemoral cartilage composition and strain in ACLR individuals (n=56) using an observational cross-sectional study design, and 2) the effects of increasing daily steps over 16-weeks on tibiofemoral cartilage composition and strain in ACLR individuals with low daily steps (n=28) using a single arm, longitudinal pre-test post-test study design. The proposed study is innovative because it builds on observational studies linking underloading with poor knee joint health and will be the first study to mechanistically determine how altering loading frequency (i.e., increasing daily steps) affects comprehensive in vivo measures of cartilage health in individuals at risk for OA. Successful completion of the proposed study will provide foundational evidence for the development of a future randomized controlled trial to determine the efficacy of an adaptive daily step promotion.

Conditions

• Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Adaptive Daily Step Promotion	Participants will wear a Fitbit monitor on their non-dominant wrist during a 10 to 14 day "run-in" screening to capture daily steps reported by the Fitbit but no daily step goals will be sent to the participant. The Fitbit monitor will be worn during all waking hours except water activities, and compliance will be considered as a day with ≥1,000 steps. Next, participants will undergo a 16-week intervention wearing the Fitbit monitor on their wrist and receive a text message each morning with a personalized, adaptive daily step count goal and a link used to confirm receipt of the goal. The preceding 10 days of step data will be rank ordered and the 60th percentile step count will be set as the goal for the next day. Goals will not exceed 10,000 daily steps.

Timeline

• Start date: 2024-09-23
• Primary completion: 2028-01-30
• Completion: 2028-01-30
• First posted: 2024-01-05
• Last updated: 2025-06-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States