Translating Comprehensive Conservative Care for Chronic Knee Pain Into a Digital Care Pathway: 12-Week and 6-Month Outcomes for the Hinge Health Program.
Peter Smittenaar, Jennifer C Erhart-Hledik, Rose Kinsella and 3 others
PMID 28582253WHAT IT FOUND
41 employees with chronic knee pain who used a 12-week digital program reported less pain, stiffness, and better function at 12 weeks and 6 months.
Because all received the whole program, no single part can be credited.
Key findings
01KOOS pain improved by 16 points at week 12 and 18 points at 6 months, and KOOS-PS function improved by 10 points at week 12 and 14 points at 6 months.
02Surgery interest fell from 3.5 out of 10 at baseline to 1.2 out of 10 at week 12 and remained low at 6 months.
03The program combined sensor-guided exercise, education, CBT, psychosocial support through teams and coaches, weight loss, and activity tracking, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.
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
There was no control group or blinding, so improvement could reflect placebo, natural fluctuation, or regression to the mean. The sample was small: 41 were enrolled, 37 completed 12-week outcomes, and 33 completed 6-month outcomes. Participants received exercise, education, CBT, coaching, weight loss, and activity tracking together, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated. Knee osteoarthritis was not confirmed by a physician; inclusion used self-reported pain and questionnaire criteria. Most participants were female, so results may not apply equally to men. Follow-up ended at 6 months after starting the program, which is too short to confirm long-term effects. The study was run through employer sites that paid Hinge Health, which may affect generalisability.
Declared interests
Almost all authors worked for Hinge Health, the company that made the program; one author was a paid domain expert consultant. The two employer sites also compensated Hinge Health for deployment.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the pain and function improvements as proof the digital program caused them. There was no control group, and participants received exercise, education, CBT, coaching, weight loss, and activity tracking together.