Telehealth mindful exercise for knee osteoarthritis was safe and feasible, with 86% retention (vs 100% for exercise-only) and 0 adverse events (vs 4 in the control group).
RCT (n=40)
Yes
Does a telehealth mindful exercise intervention improve safety, fidelity, and feasibility compared to exercise alone in people with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis?
A decentralized telehealth mindful exercise intervention is safe and feasible for patients with knee osteoarthritis, with preliminary signals of improved patient-reported outcomes.
Absolute Event Rate: 86% vs 100%
Objective: Negative psychological beliefs like fear avoidance and catastrophizing can interfere with exercise engagement in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA). Mindfulness, when integrated with exercise, could potentially address both psychological and physical impairments. Our objectives were to optimize and assess the feasibility of a novel telehealth, group-based mindful exercise intervention for people with knee OA. Methods: We conducted a decentralized randomized controlled trial where participants (n = 40) with symptomatic knee OA were randomized into mindful exercise (n = 21) or exercise-only (n = 19) groups. Both groups received supervised group-based interventions weekly for 8-weeks via Zoom. Primary outcomes were safety, fidelity, and feasibility of the mindful exercise intervention. Participants completed patient-reported outcomes (PRO) for pain, function, and psychological measures at baseline, week-8, and week-14. Results: Participants were from 21 US states; >90% identified as having White race, 16% were from rural areas, and approximately 40% had an annual income < 50, 000. At 8-weeks, mindful exercise and exercise groups had retention rates of 86% (18/21) and 100% (19/19), and attendance was 54% (11. 4/21) and 68% (13/19) respectively. There were no adverse events in the mindful exercise group and four in the exercise group related to exacerbation of knee pain. Preliminary findings showed numerically larger improvements in several PROs for the mindful exercise group. Conclusion: An 8-week telehealth, group-based, mindful exercise intervention was safe for people with knee OA. Our decentralized approach was feasible in terms of recruitment and retention. Further refinement is needed to improve intervention attendance and participant diversity.
Shah et al. (2024) conducted an RCT in Knee osteoarthritis (n=40). Telehealth, group-based mindful exercise vs. Exercise-only was evaluated on Feasibility (retention rate at 8 weeks). Telehealth mindful exercise for knee osteoarthritis was safe and feasible, with 86% retention (vs 100% for exercise-only) and 0 adverse events (vs 4 in the control group).