title: Effects of exercise therapy on walking ability in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effect of exercise therapy on the walking ability of individuals with knee osteoarthritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) were identified by searching through PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. All literature published to October 2014 were included in the search.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from RCTs that compared the effects of exercise therapy on walking ability with the effects of no intervention or psychoeducational intervention in participants with knee osteoarthritis. The outcome data on the total distance walked (6-minute walk test); the amount of time spent walking (the time to walk arbitrary distances); and gait velocity were obtained and analysed. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twenty-eight RCTs were identified. Meta-analysis provided very-low-quality evidence that exercise therapy increased the total distance walked in the 6-minute walk test, in comparison with the effects of the control interventions (SMD = 0.44, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.60). Meta-analysis also provided low- or moderate-quality evidence that the amount of time spent walking and gait velocity were improved more by exercise therapy than by the control interventions (the amount of time spent walking: SMD = -0.50, 95% CI -0.70 to -0.30; gait velocity: SMD = 1.78, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.58).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In individuals with knee osteoarthritis, exercise therapy can improve the amount of time spent walking, gait velocity, and maybe the total distance walked.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Hiroshima International University, Japan r-tanaka@hs.hirokoku-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Ryo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Hiroshima International University, Japan.
authors.forename: Junya
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation, Faculty of Rehabilitation, Hiroshima International University, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuhiro
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kito
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Science, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Kobe University, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Moriyama
mesh_terms: D000054:Acceleration; D000368:Aged; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020370:Osteoarthritis, Knee / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011379:Prognosis; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D016138:Walking / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Exercise; knee osteoarthritis; meta-analysis; systematic review; walking