Efficacy of strength and aerobic exercise on physical function and cartilage health in patients with knee osteoarthritis

Knee osteoarthritis is a prevalent musculoskeletal disease in the adult population which has large influences on an individual's function, quality of life and participation in the society. There is solid evidence that exercises reduce pain and improve physical function in persons with knee osteoarthritis. There is, however, limited evidence with respect to if strength exercises are more effective than aerobic exercises on quality of life, physical function and underlying mechanisms for osteoarthritis, such as cartilage morphology. The overall contribution of this study is to increase the knowledge of the efficacy of different exercise interventions on quality of life, physical function and the morphology of the cartilage in patients with knee osteoarthritis. This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with study participants included from the primary health care and hospitals in the Oslo and Akershus areas. The participants in the RCT go through a 12-weeks intervention program after randomization to one of two groups: a strength exercise group or an aerobic exercise group. Those who are not randomized to an intervention group are randomized to a control group. Study methods include the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), isokinetic muscle strength, and maximal oxygen consumption tests. In addition, background variables are recorded. The study protocol "Efficacy of strength and aerobic exercise on patient-reported outcomes and structural changes in patients with knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial" is published in BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2013, 14:266. The research group include scientists from Akershus University Hospital, Oslo University Hospital and at Diakonhjemmet Hospital. In addition, physical therapist and scientist Richard Frobell from Lund University attends the research group with his expertise in imaging. The study is ongoing with inclusion of patients at two university hospitals and in the primary health care in the Oslo and Akershus area.

Knee osteoarthritis is a prevalent musculoskeletal disease in the adult population which have large influences on an individual's function, quality of life and participation in the society. There is solid evidence that exercises reduces pain and improve p hysical function in persons with knee osteoarthritis. There is, however, limited evidence with respect to if strength exercises is more effective than aerobic exercises on physical function and underlying mechanisms for osteoarthritis, such as cartilage morphology. The overall contribution of this study is to increase the knowledge of the efficacy of different exercise interventions on physical function and the morphology of the cartilage in patients with knee osteoarthritis. The study design will be a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with study participants included from the primary health care and hospitals in the Oslo area. The participants in the RCT will go through a 12 weeks intervention program after randomization to one of two groups: a maxim um strength exercise group or an aerobic exercise group. Study methods include the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with contrast (dGEMRIC), isokinetic muscle strength, and maximal oxygen consumption te sts. In addition, background variables will be recorded in the assessments. The findings from the project will be published in international high ranked journals