Effect of regular exercise on the radiographic progression of foot osteoarthritis

Among the elderly, osteoarthritis often causes chronic pain and disability. Although research has addressed the association between exercise and osteoarthritis, few studies have examined the effect of exercise on the radiographic progression of osteoarthritis. We investigated the relationship between ongoing exercise and radiographic progression of foot osteoarthritis. The first metatarsophalangeal and medial cuneiform-first tarsometatarsal joints were assessed. Joint-specific osteoarthritis radiographic progression scores were determined using four assessments: joint space narrowing, osteophytes, sclerosis, and a composite score. This cohort study included a subset of 221 men and women aged 40 to 91 years participating in a community-based osteoarthritis study. Adjusted risk estimates (95% confidence intervals) summarizing the relationship between ongoing exercise and radiographic progression in the first metatarsophalangeal joint ranged from 0.34 (0.11-0.99) for osteophytes to 0.66 (0.23-1.92) for sclerosis; because only eight individuals experienced medial cuneiform-first tarsometatarsal joint progression, these estimates were less stable, ranging from 2.41 (0.49-11.83) for composite to 4.29 (0.11-166.52) for osteophytes. Overall, our findings do not suggest that regular exercise is a risk factor for foot osteoarthritis progression. Future replication studies are warranted to confirm these findings.