Exercise and Special Shoes Aid Osteoarthritis Patients
Strengthening programs, shoes that decrease dynamic loads have benefits in hip, knee osteoarthritis
MONDAY, Sept. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Exercise programs focusing on muscle strengthening, and specialized shoes designed to decrease dynamic loads at the knee are promising therapies for osteoarthritis, according to two studies published in the Sept. 15 issue of Arthritis Care & Research.
In the first study, Gabriela Hernandez-Molina, M.D., of Boston University, and colleagues performed a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled trials to determine the efficacy of exercise for hip osteoarthritis. Overall, nine trials with a total of 1,234 patients met the inclusion criteria. In the main analysis, exercise demonstrated a benefit, but was associated with significant heterogeneity. When the trial responsible for the majority of the heterogeneity was eliminated, specialized hands-on exercise training that includes muscle strengthening was found to be beneficial.
In the second study, Najia Shakoor, M.D., of the Rush Medical College in Chicago, and colleagues compared dynamic loads at the knee using the following footware: a specialized shoe (the mobility shoe) designed to lower dynamic loads; self-chosen footwear; or a commercially available walking shoe (control). Forty-eight patients with osteoarthritis underwent gait analysis with either self-chosen footwear and mobility shoe (group A), or control shoe and mobility shoe (group B). External knee adduction was decreased by 8 percent in group A and 12 percent in group B, the researchers report.
"Specialized footwear can effectively reduce joint loads in subjects with knee osteoarthritis, compared with self-chosen shoes and control walking shoes. Footwear may represent a therapeutic target for the treatment of knee osteoarthritis. The types of shoes worn by subjects with knee osteoarthritis should be evaluated more closely in terms of their effects on the disease," Shakoor and colleagues write.
Abstract - Hernandez-Molina
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Abstract - Shakoor
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