Exercise therapy and patient education versus intra-articular saline injections in the treatment of knee osteoarthritis: an evidence-based protocol for an open-label randomised controlled trial (the DISCO trial).

ABSTRACT:

Background

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a highly prevalent musculoskeletal condition causing pain, physical disability, and reduced quality of life. Exercise and patient education are non-pharmacological interventions for knee OA unanimously recommended as first-line treatments based on extensive research evidence. However, none of the numerous randomised controlled trials of exercise and education for knee OA has used adequate sham/placebo comparison groups because the 'active' ingredients are unknown. Designing and executing an adequate and 'blindable placebo' version of an exercise and education intervention is impossible. Therefore, using an open-label study design, this trial compares the efficacy of a widely used 'state-of-art' exercise and education intervention (Good Life wi

SUBMITTER: Bandak E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7787248 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature