Impact of Different Exercise Programs on Knee OA

Summary

This study will examine and compare the changes in serum biomarkers, joint kinematics, and thigh muscle strength based on three different 8-week exercise protocols in individuals with knee pathology: Lower-body positive-pressure (LBPP) supported low-load treadmill walking and Aquatic exercise program and standard of care treadmill or community walking.

Investigators hypothesize that both the 8-week exercise programs which aim to partially off-load the knee joint will be associated with a significant reduction in serum biological markers of joint disease (tissue turnover, cartilage degradation and inflammation) in response to the exercise. The serum biological markers will be directly correlated to participant reported knee pain. Both the LBPP-supported low-load and the aquatic exercise regimens will result in significant increases in thigh muscle strength about the degenerative knee which in-turn will result in diminished knee pain and enhanced joint function. Investigators aim to compare these two exercise programs to understand if benefits of one far exceeds the other as compared to standard of care treadmill or community walking.

Conditions

• Osteoarthritis
• Knee Osteoarthritis
• Arthritis
• Joint Diseases
• Musculoskeletal Diseases
• Rheumatic Diseases

Interventions

OTHER

Exercise for Knee Osteoarthritis Recommendations (Control group)

Patients in this group will receive available exercise recommendations of 150 minutes of moderate intensity exercise per week (30 minutes per day).

OTHER

Exercise for Knee Osteoarthritis -(LBPP supported low-load treadmill Walking)

Lower-body positive-pressure (LBPP) supported low-load treadmill walking exercise

OTHER

Exercise for Knee Osteoarthritis - (Aquatic Walking)

Aquatic Walking exercise

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Northwestern University

  collaborator OTHER

• Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Prakash Jayabalan, MD, PhD · Shirley Ryan AbilityLab

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

50 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-04-01

Primary Completion

2025-07-31

Completion

2025-07-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations