Resilience for Older Workers With OA Through Exercise

McMaster University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Osteoarthritis, Hip; Osteoarthritis, Knee

Treatments: Other: Exercise; Other: No Exercise

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02609672

ResilienceAtWork

Details and patient eligibility

About

Exercise is effective at reducing pain while improving physical function. However we do not know if exercise can boost resilience in the workplace, to allow people with osteoarthritis to work as long as they desire. Previous research shows that exercise holds the most promise for helping people enjoy their work because it reduces sick time, reduces pain, and improves productivity. However, little work has examined the effect of exercise for people with arthritis in the workplace. The purpose of the study is to investigate whether exercise improves resilience in the workplace, mobility, fitness, strength, and pain in comparison to no exercise in those with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis.

Full description

The Canadian workforce is aging. The most prevalent age group is 50-54 years and most of these Canadians will aim to continue working over the next 10 years. However, the impact of arthritis on aging Canadians compromises their ability to continue working. By 2031, over 2 million Canadians aged 45 to 64 years will have arthritis. We aim to boost the ability of older adults with the most common arthritis, osteoarthritis (OA), to engage in the workforce for as long as they desire. Identifying strategies to promote productivity among older workers with knee and hip OA will be of great public health significance in the coming decades. However, we face two challenges. First, obesity among sedentary workers is a risk for worsening knee and hip OA. Second, large occupational loads on the knee and hip worsen OA. Exercise has the most promise in addressing these challenges because it reduces pain and sick time, and improves mental health. Thus, there is a call for studies examining exercise for the aging worker with knee and hip OA. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of an OA-specific leg strengthening exercise program, delivered within the workplace, on mobility, pain, physical capacity, and resilience among older workers with knee or hip OA.

Enrollment: 24 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 45+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• 45 years of age or older
• McMaster employee
• Sedentary job (stand or walk for <1/3 of work day)
• Able to safely climb two flights of stairs
• Hip pain
• Hip pain during internal rotation and hip flexion
• Knee pain
• Less than 30 minutes of morning stiffness in the knee
• Crepitus in the knee with active range of motion
• Bony enlargement around the knee
• Bony tenderness to palpation at the knee
• No warmth around the knee

Exclusion criteria

• Any other forms of arthritis
• Osteoporosis-related fracture
• History of patellofemoral symptoms
• Active non-arthritic hip or knee disease
• Hip or knee surgery
• Use of cane or walking aid
• Unstable heart condition
• Neurological conditions
• Hip, knee or ankle injuries in past 3 months
• Physician-advised restriction to physical activity
• Any injuries that would prohibit participation in exercise
• Ipsilateral ankle conditions
• Currently receiving cancer treatment
• Currently pregnant

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

---

24 participants in 2 patient groups

Exercise

Experimental group

Description:

The participants in this arm were asked to attend 3 group classes per week for 12 weeks taught by a certified exercise instructor. Four class times were offered per week. These classes included a warm-up, static poses shown to decrease knee joint loading, and a cool down including flexibility exercises. Measurements were obtained at baseline (before intervention) and at follow-up (following intervention). Outcomes included clinical mobility; pain; isometric leg strength; cardiovascular fitness; and resilience.

Treatment:

Other: Exercise

No Exercise

Other group

Description:

The participants in this arm were asked to refrain from changing their physical activity over the 12 weeks and maintain any strategies typically used to manage knee and/or hip pain. Since it is known that exercise is beneficial for pain management and strengthening in knee OA, participants randomized to the no exercise group were offered a free exercise pass following completion of the study. Measurements were obtained at baseline (before intervention) and at follow-up (following intervention). Outcomes included clinical mobility; pain; isometric leg strength; cardiovascular fitness; and resilience.

Treatment:

Other: No Exercise