Follow-up of individualised physical activity on prescription and individualised advice in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis: A randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Objective Compare the long-term effects of two different individualised physical activity interventions in hip or knee osteoarthritis patients. Design Randomised, assessor-blinded, controlled trial. Setting Primary care. Subjects Patients with clinically verified hip or knee osteoarthritis, <150 min/week with moderate or vigorous physical activity, aged 40–74. Intervention The advice group (n = 69) received a 1-h information and goalsetting session for individualised physical activity. The prescription group (n = 72) received information, goalsetting, individualised written prescription, self-monitoring, and four follow-ups. Main measures Physical activity, physical function, pain and quality of life at baseline, 6, 12 and 24 months. Results There were only minor differences in outcomes between the two groups. For self-reported physical activity, the advice group had improved from a mean of 102 (95% CI 74–130) minutes/week at baseline to 214 (95% CI 183–245) minutes/week at 24 months, while the prescription group had improved from 130 (95% CI 103–157) to 176 (95% CI 145–207) minutes/week (p = 0.01 between groups). Number of steps/day decreased by −514 (95% CI −567–462) steps from baseline to 24 months in the advice group, and the decrease in the prescription group was −852 (95% CI −900–804) steps (p = 0.415 between groups). Pain (HOOS/KOOS) in the advice group had improved by 7.9 points (95% CI 7.5–8.2) and in the prescription group by 14.7 points (95% CI 14.3–15.1) from baseline to 24 months (p = 0.024 between groups). Conclusions There is no evidence that individualised physical activity on prescription differs from individualised advice in improving long-term effects in patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis.