Assessing the comparative effectiveness of Tai Chi versus physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis: design and rationale for a randomized trial.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) causes pain and long-term disability with annual healthcare costs exceeding $185 billion in the United States. Few medical remedies effectively influence the course of the disease. Finding effective treatments to maintain function and quality of life in patients with knee OA is one of the national priorities identified by the Institute of Medicine. We are currently conducting the first comparative effectiveness and cost-effectiveness randomized trial of Tai Chi versus a physical-therapy regimen in a sample of patients with symptomatic and radiographically confirmed knee OA. This article describes the design and conduct of this trial.

Methods/design

A single-center, 52-week, comparative effectiveness randomized controlled trial of Tai Chi v

SUBMITTER: Wang C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4171546 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature