title: No effects of a 12-week supervised exercise therapy program on gait in patients with mild to moderate osteoarthritis: a secondary analysis of a randomized trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is unknown whether gait biomechanics in hip osteoarthritis patients with mild to moderate symptoms change following exercise therapy interventions. The aim of the present study was to compare stance phase gait characteristics in hip osteoarthritis patients with mild to moderate symptoms participating in a randomized trial with two different interventions; patient education only or patient education followed by a 12-week supervised exercise therapy program.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study was conducted as a secondary analysis of a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. Patients aged 40 to 80 years, with hip osteoarthritis verified from self-reported pain and radiographic changes, were included. The final material comprised 23 patients (10 males/13 females, mean (SD) age 58.2 (10.02) years) in the patient education only group, and 22 patients (9 males/13 females, mean (SD) age 60.2 (9.49) years) in the patient education + exercise therapy group. Three-dimensional gait analysis was conducted at baseline and at four month follow-up. Sagittal and frontal plane joint angle displacement and external joint moments of the hip, knee and ankle were compared from a one-way analysis of covariance between the groups at follow-up, with baseline values as covariates (p < 0.05). No group differences were observed at the four-month follow-up in gait velocity, joint angle displacement, or moments. As the compliance in the exercise therapy group was inadequate, we calculated possible associations between the number of completed exercise sessions and change in each of the kinematic or kinetic variables. Associations were weak to neglible. Thus, the negative findings in this study cannot be explained from inadequate compliance alone, but most likely also suggest the exercise therapy program itself to be insufficient to engender gait alterations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adding a 12-week supervised exercise therapy program to patient education did not induce changes in our selected biomechanical variables during the stance phase of gait, even when adjusting for poor compliance. Thus, we did not find evidence to support our exercise therapy program to be an efficacious intervention to induce gait alterations in this population of hip osteoarthritis patients.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  NCT00319423 at ClinicalTrials.gov (registration date 2006-04-26).
authors.affiliation: Norwegian research Centre for Active Rehabilitation, Oslo, Norway. dringrideitzen@gmail.com.|Orthopaedic Department, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. dringrideitzen@gmail.com.|Postal address: Orthopaedic Department, Oslo University Hospital, Kirkeveien 166, Bygg 72, 2. Etg., 0407, Oslo, Norway. dringrideitzen@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ingrid
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eitzen
authors.affiliation: Norwegian research Centre for Active Rehabilitation, Oslo, Norway. linda.fernandes1@gmail.com.|Department of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology, Institute of Clinical research, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. linda.fernandes1@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Department, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway. lars.nordsletten@medisin.uio.no.|University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway. lars.nordsletten@medisin.uio.no.
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Nordsletten
authors.affiliation: Norwegian research Centre for Active Rehabilitation, Oslo, Norway. mayarna.risberg@nimi.no.|Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway. mayarna.risberg@nimi.no.
authors.forename: May Arna
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Risberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005081:Exercise Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015207:Osteoarthritis, Hip / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy*; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome