Exercise, Manual Therapy, and Use of Booster Sessions in Physical Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Multi-Center, Factorial Randomized Clinical Trial

• Published in: Osteoarthritis and cartilage 2016-08, Vol.24 (8), p.1340-1349
• Main Authors: Fitzgerald, G. Kelley, PT, PhD, FAPTA, Fritz, Julie M., PT, PhD, FAPTA, Childs, John D., PT, PhD, FAPTA, Brennan, Gerard P., PT, PhD, Talisa, Victor, MS, Gil, Alexandra, PT, PhD, Neilson, Brett D., PT, DPT, Abbott, J. Haxby, DPT, PhD, FNZCP
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Booster sessions; Exercise; Exercise Therapy; Humans; Knee; Manual therapy; Musculoskeletal Manipulations; Ontario; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee; Physical therapy; Physical Therapy Modalities; Rheumatology
• ISSN: 1063-4584; 1522-9653
• DOI: 10.1016/j.joca.2016.03.001

Summary Objective 1) Do treatment effects differ between participants receiving manual therapy (MT) with exercise compared to subjects who don’t, 2) are treatment effects sustained better when participants receive booster sessions compared to those who don’t over a one year period in subjects with knee osteoarthritis (OA)? Design Multi-center, 2x2 factorial randomized clinical trial. 300 participants with knee OA were randomized to 4 groups: exercise-no boosters (Ex), exercise–with boosters(Ex+B), manual therapy+exercise-no boosters(MT+Ex), manual therapy+exercise-with boosters(MT+Ex+B). The primary outcome was the Western Ontario and McMaster osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) at 1 year. Secondary outcomes included knee pain, physical performance tests, and proportions of participants meeting treatment responder criteria. Results There were no differences between groups on the WOMAC at 1 year or on any performance-based measures. Secondary analyses indicated a) better scores on the WOMAC and greater odds of being a treatment responder at 9 weeks for participants receiving MT, b) greater odds of being a treatment responder at 1 year for participants receiving boosters. Exploratory interaction analysis suggested knee pain decreases for participants receiving boosters and increases for participants not receiving boosters from 9 weeks to 1 year. Conclusions MT or use of boosters with exercise did not result in additive improvement in the primary outcome at 1 year. Secondary outcomes suggest MT may have some short term benefit, and booster sessions may improve responder status and knee pain at 1 year. However, the role of booster sessions remains unclear in sustaining treatment effects and warrants further study. Clinical Trials.gov (NCT01314183)