E-Health Lifestyle Intervention for Arthritis: A Pilot RCT on Feasibility

Summary

Knee osteoarthritis and obesity are common health problems in Hong Kong, especially among South Asian communities, where obesity rates are much higher than the general population. These two conditions often make each other worse-pain from arthritis leads to less physical activity, which can lead to more weight gain and more joint pain.

This pilot study is testing a new digital health program called CHALAANE(Community health asian lifestyle for ameliorating arthritis with navigational e-health), which means "walk" in Hindi and Urdu. The program uses a smartband and a mobile app with artificial intelligence to help participants track their activity and diet. It also includes a 12-week supervised program with group walking sessions and lifestyle education.

The study will include 50 South Asian adults aged 40 to 75 years who have knee osteoarthritis and obesity. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups. The intervention group will receive the full CHALAANE program with an activated smartband and mobile app. The control group will receive an inactivated smartband for activity monitoring only. The study will last 10 months, with assessments at multiple time points.

The main goal of this pilot study is to see if a larger future study would be feasible. The researchers will measure how many participants follow the program as instructed and how many complete the full 10-month study. They will also look at whether the program is acceptable to the South Asian community and gather early data on pain, physical function, and body composition.

The study is a collaboration between the Department of Orthopaedics \& Traumatology at Queen Mary Hospital and The Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital. A total of 50 participants will be recruited. Results will help inform the design of a future full-scale trial to improve health outcomes in this underserved population.

Conditions

• Knee Osteoarthristis
• Obesity & Overweight

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Digital Health Intervention

The CHALAANE intervention is a culturally tailored digital health program for South Asian adults with knee osteoarthritis and obesity. It consists of three integrated components: (1) an activated smartband that continuously tracks physical activity including step count, distance, and active minutes; (2) a mobile application with artificial intelligence for dietary logging and analysis, providing personalized feedback on calorie consumption and macronutrient composition; and (3) a 12-week supervised practicum with weekly group walking sessions and lifestyle education covering healthy eating, pain management, and behavior change strategies. The intervention period is 10 months.

DEVICE

Inactivated Smartband for Activity Monitoring

Participants in the control group receive an identical smartband that is inactivated, meaning it collects no activity data and provides no feedback to the participant. This serves as a minimal intervention to control for the effect of wearing a device while not receiving the active components of the CHALAANE program (AI dietary analysis, supervised practicum, and lifestyle education).

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The University of Hong Kong

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

DOUBLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

40 Years

Max Age

75 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-09-01

Primary Completion

2028-12-31

Completion

2029-05-31

Countries

• Hong Kong

Study Locations