Long-term exercise therapy resolves ethnic differences in baseline health status in older adults with knee osteoarthritis.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether ethnicity was associated with baseline and 18-month health status within a merged sample of older adults with knee osteoarthritis (OA) from the Fitness Arthritis in Seniors Trial and the Arthritis, Diet, and Activity Promotion Trial.


METHODS
Cross-sectional and prospective study.


METHODS
Center-based exercise therapy at two universities.


METHODS
A total of 584 African-American (n=143) and Caucasian-American (n=441) adults aged 60 and older with knee OA were examined for baseline and 18-month health status.


METHODS
Six-minute-walk distance, 36-item Short Form General Health Scale (SF-36 GHS), and Physical Functioning Questionnaire index score. Ethnicity was obtained via self-report.


RESULTS
Analyses of covariance testing the effect of ethnicity, adjusted for demographic and health status covariates, revealed significant effects for ethnicity upon baseline 6-minute-walk distance and SF-36 GHS, with Caucasian Americans reporting better scores (P=.001), although these differences were not significant after 18 months of exercise therapy.


CONCLUSIONS
Ethnicity and baseline function are important factors that should not be overlooked in knee OA research involving exercise interventions. Moreover, not only should physical activity be recommended to improve functional outcomes, it may also be a useful strategy in reducing health disparities.
Foy
Capri Gabrielle
CG
Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA. cfoy@wfubmc.edu
Penninx
Brenda W H
BW
Shumaker
Sally A
SA
Messier
Stephen P
SP
Pahor
Marco
M
D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005006:Ethnicity; D005081:Exercise Therapy; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000628:therapy*; D011446:Prospective Studies