Promoting physical activity via physical therapist following knee replacement: A pilot randomized controlled trial.
Christine A Pellegrini, Debbie Brown, Katherine E DeVivo and 2 others
PMID 36106651WHAT IT FOUND
Physical therapists can integrate aerobic activity counseling into standard knee replacement sessions without increasing session time.
However, this did not improve physical activity levels, pain, or function compared to standard care alone in this small pilot study.
Key findings
01The intervention was feasible and acceptable, with high retention rates and no increase in session duration.
02There were no significant differences in physical activity, pain, or function between the intervention and control groups at 12 weeks.
03Despite high fidelity in delivering the intervention, only a minority of participants correctly recalled the recommended physical activity guidelines.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was a pilot with a small sample size (45 participants) and was not powered to detect effectiveness. Follow-up was short at only 12 weeks, which may be too soon to see significant changes in activity levels after knee replacement. The intervention was brief, consisting of only about nine physical therapy sessions, which may have been insufficient to drive behavior change. Participants were primarily white and female, limiting generalizability. Recruitment was stopped early due to the target being met, and some data collection was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff and participants were not blinded, which could have influenced results.
Declared interests
The study was supported by non-U.S. government funding. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the null results as evidence that physical activity counseling is ineffective or unnecessary. The study was a small pilot not powered for effectiveness, and the intervention may have been too brief or the follow-up too short to detect changes that might emerge with longer-term support.