A scalable 12-week exercise and education programme reduces symptoms and improves function and wellbeing in people with hip and knee osteoarthritis.
Jemma L Smith, Aidan Q Innes, Danielle S Burns and 5 others
PMID 37180574WHAT IT FOUND
People with hip and knee arthritis attending a 12-week gym programme reported less pain and better function.
Because there was no control group, we cannot know if the programme caused these changes or if they were natural recovery.
Key findings
01Participants completed a median of 21 out of 24 sessions, with 25.6% attending all of them.
02Self-reported function improved significantly for both hip and knee arthritis, with changes exceeding the minimum clinically important difference.
03No control group was included, so observed benefits cannot be directly attributed to the programme.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
There was no control group, so improvements cannot be directly attributed to the intervention and may reflect natural history, regression to the mean, or placebo effects. The sample was predominantly older females (84%) with mild to moderate disease severity, limiting generalisability to other demographics or more severe cases. Outcomes were self-reported and measured only at 12 weeks, providing no data on long-term effects or objective measures of joint health. The intervention combined multiple components (exercise, education, social interaction, trainer support), making it impossible to isolate which element drove the changes.
Declared interests
The study was conducted at Nuffield Health centres, and the programme is a commercial service offered by Nuffield Health. The authors did not explicitly state who funded the evaluation, but the setting and intervention are proprietary to Nuffield Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the significant improvements in pain and function as proof that this specific gym programme is effective. Without a control group, these changes could be due to natural recovery, the placebo effect, or other factors unrelated to the intervention.