One-year followup of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee who participated in a program of supervised fitness walking and supportive patient education.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether gains in functioning observed immediately following participation in an 8-week program of supervised fitness walking for patients with knee osteoarthritis were sustained at 1-year followup.


METHODS
Twenty-nine (61.1%) of 47 original intervention program patients and 23 (51.1%) of 45 original control patients were interviewed by telephone at 1-year followup. Patients completed the Arthritis Impact Measurement Scales physical activity, arthritis impact, pain, medication use, and general health perceptions subscales, as well as a separate visual analog pain scale and measures of perceived self-efficacy to cope with arthritis pain and other symptoms.


RESULTS
Adherence to walking was low, and there were no statistically significant differences between intervention and control patients at one year.


CONCLUSIONS
The failure of intervention patients to maintain regular walking resulted in loss of functional benefits that were observed at 8 weeks in the original study. Long-term adherence to walking is critical to maintenance of initial gains in functional outcomes.
Sullivan
T
T
Division of Occupational Therapy, School of Medical Rehabilitation, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Allegrante
J P
JP
Peterson
M G
MG
Kovar
P A
PA
MacKenzie
C R
CR
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010809:Physical Fitness; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking