BACKGROUND: Few effective nonsurgical treatments exist for hip osteoarthritis. Footwear influences hip forces and may be a promising novel approach. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether stable supportive shoes are more effective than flat flexible shoes for hip pain. DESIGN: 2-group, pragmatic, comparative effectiveness, superiority randomized trial. (Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry: ACTRN12621001532897). SETTING: Community. PARTICIPANTS: 120 people with hip osteoarthritis pain. INTERVENTION: Off-the-shelf stable supportive ( MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was 6-month change in average hip pain on walking in the previous week (11-point scale; range, 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating worse pain). Secondary outcomes included other measures of pain, symptoms, function in daily living, function in sport and recreation, quality of life, physical activity, global improvement, and adverse events. RESULTS: A total of 120 participants were randomly assigned, and 116 (97%) completed 6-month primary outcomes. Stable supportive shoes did not differ from flat flexible shoes in improving hip pain (mean difference MD, -0.5 point 95% CI, -1.3 to 0.2 point; LIMITATION: Unblinded participants. CONCLUSION: Stable supportive shoes were not superior to flat flexible shoes for improving hip osteoarthritis pain while walking. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: National Health and Medical Research Council.
Paterson et al. (Mon,) studied this question.