“We should verify that the ‘normal’ hip of a patient with knee osteoarthritis is evaluated and possibly rehabilitated,” he tells Reuters Health by email.
Researchers also want to understand exactly how exercise influences knee osteoarthritis pain. The effect be physical, but could also stem from other factors such as a general improvement in wellbeing, attention from a healthcare professional or a placebo effect.
“Over the last decade or so, many researchers have looked for the optimal exercise program, but unfortunately, without luck,” says Marius Henriksen, head of the Physiotherapy and Biomechanics Research unit at Copenhagen University Hospital, Frederiksberg, Denmark, who wasn’t involved with the study.
“To me, that suggests that the exercise that is effective is the exercise that is being done,” he tells Reuters Health by email. “Go out there and exercise and be physically active, and do something that you find fun and meaningful.”
Reference
- Hislop AC, Collins NJ, Tucker K, et al. Does adding hip exercises to quadriceps exercises result in superior outcomes in pain, function and quality of life for people with knee osteoarthritis? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Sports Med. 2019 Feb 6. pii: bjsports-2018-099683. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2018-099683. [Epub ahead of print]
