Osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and knee is among the leading causes of global disability, highlighting the need for early, targeted, and effective treatment. New research supports prevalence of asymptomatic, uninjured people, and re-confirms the importance of focused physical therapy, physical activity, and exercise.

• From a study published in April of this year, re-affirming the positive effects of exercise on OA. The majority of people with hip and knee OA do not meet physical activity recommendations: Physical Activity and Exercise Therapy Benefit More Than Just Symptoms and Impairments in People With Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis.
• High-quality evidence indicates that therapeutic exercise provides reduced knee pain, and moderate-quality evidence shows improvement in physical function among people with knee OA. Another recent high quality systematic review found manual therapy compared with exercise therapy alone provides short-term benefits in reducing pain, improving function, and physical performance in patients with knee OA. Another study showed that home exercise alone is only about half as effective as clinically supervised exercise combined with manual therapy by a trained PT
• Several recent studies have reported relatively high prevalence of knee arthritis and meniscal tears in asymptomatic patients, suggesting these conditions can occur but not be painful. (Study1, Study 2, Study3)
• An updated review of best evidence for OA treatment from May, 2017, can be found here.

Reference Materials

Find a link to relevant studies and research by clicking here.