Adherence
Exercise interventions for hip or knee osteoarthritis reduce pain and improve physical function, with moderate quality evidence supporting these outcomes.
If you have hip or knee osteoarthritis, exercise is recommended to reduce pain and improve function. While the benefits are modest (around 6% pain reduction), they are significant for quality of life. Start with exercises tailored to your abilities and preferences, and focus on consistency rather than intensity.
There was moderate quality evidence that exercise reduced pain by an absolute percent reduction of 6%... and moderate quality evidence that exercise improved physical function by an absolute percent of 5.6%.
Why this rating
Moderate quality evidence, downgraded due to high risk of bias for blinding.
Source
Exercise interventions and patient beliefs for people with hip, knee or hip and knee osteoarthritis: a mixed methods review
Michael Hurley et al. · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · 2018
DOI 10.1002/14651858.cd010842.pub2
More from this paper
- Providing reassurance, clear advice, and enjoyable exercise programs can encourage greater participation in exercise for people with osteoarthritis.Good
- Exercise interventions for hip or knee osteoarthritis improve self-efficacy and slightly reduce depression, but have little to no effect on anxiety.Moderate
Related findings · Adherence
- Regular physical activity (at least 150 minutes/week of moderate-intensity) reduces all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by 20-30% and lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes by 25-35%.Strong
- Increasing physical activity from a sedentary lifestyle to an active one in middle adulthood significantly reduces the risk of coronary events compared to remaining sedentary.Strong
- Resistance exercise is the only intervention capable of consistently restoring muscle function and strength in sarcopenia, partially overcoming age-related anabolic resistance.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →