STOP OA: A PILOT STUDY (GLA:D Canada) - Education and Targeted, Personalized Exercise for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis

Summary

Osteoarthritis (OA) most often affects the hip and knee joints. The first signs and symptoms of pain, stiffness or swelling are not uncommon in those in their thirties and forties and 10 per cent report symptomatic knee OA by age 60 years. Education and exercise are essential for people with OA to help them manage their condition better. Exercise can reduce pain, improve mobility and enhance quality of life. However, doing the right exercises in the right way is important so that joints are not overly stressed.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate an existing evidence-based program called, Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D). The program has been translated and adapted to the Canadian context and will now be implemented in a Canadian therapy setting to start to understand if it is effective. This is the first time this program is being tested in Canada.

While some people have access to self-management programs for OA, these programs often provide only general exercise guidance and education. GLA:D integrates patient education and targeted, personalized exercise for people with hip and/or knee OA. Importantly, the exercises are taught so that individuals learn to incorporate them in their everyday activities. This research is the first step to understanding if people participating in this program have pain relief and improved function and if they are better able to manage their hip or knee OA symptoms. Additionally, this initial evaluation of the program will help create a better understanding of the challenges in delivering the program. This will be valuable information for offering future programs assuming success of this pilot study.

It is anticipated that about 60 people (30 hip OA and 30 knee OA) will participate in this study. These people will be recruited from the Sunnybrook Holland Orthopaedic and Arthritic Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. All consenting participants will receive the GLA:D Canada program delivered by Sunnybrook's therapists.

Conditions

• Osteoarthritis

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

GLA:D Canada (education and neuromuscular exercise program)

EDUCATION: 2 sessions cover OA topics (e.g. diagnosis, causes, risk factors, symptoms, treatment). Education also aims to strengthen beliefs in the value of exercise to control and improve pain and encourage exercise adherence after the program. EXERCISE: 12 sessions (twice weekly, each about 1-hour) are supervised by therapist(s) with individual progression of exercises when good neuromuscular functioning is demonstrated. Exercises are performed using both legs and focus on sensorimotor control, functional stability, and muscular strength. Exercises involve a 10-minute cycle warm-up followed by a 4-station circuit (i.e. 2 exercises per station with 3 progressive levels of difficulty performed in 2 to 3 sets with 10 to 15 repetitions).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

  collaborator OTHER

• Arthritis Research Centre of Canada

  collaborator OTHER

• University of Southern Denmark

  collaborator OTHER

• Bone and Joint Canada

  collaborator UNKNOWN

• Aileen Davis

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Aileen M Davis, PhD · University Health Network, Toronto

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

30 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2016-03-07

Primary Completion

2016-11-28

Completion

2017-11-14

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations