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Behavioural graded activity results in better exercise adherence and more physical activity than usual care in people
Martijn F Pisters1, Cindy Veenhof, Dinny H de Bakker
1Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL), Utrecht, The Netherlands. m.pisters@nivel.nl
Question:
Does behavioural graded activity result in better exercise adherence and more physical activity than usual care in people with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee?
Design:
Analysis of secondary outcomes of a cluster-randomised trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis.
Participants:
Two hundred patients with hip and/or knee osteoarthritis.
Intervention:
Experimental group received 18 sessions of behavioural graded activity over 12 weeks and up to 7 booster sessions over the next year. The control group received 18 sessions of usual care over 12 weeks according to the Dutch physiotherapy guideline.
Outcome Measures:
Exercise adherence was measured using a questionnaire and physical activity was measured using the SQUASH questionnaire at baseline, 13, and 65 weeks.
Results:
Adherence to recommended exercises was significantly higher in the experimental group than in the control group at 13 weeks (OR 4.3, 95% CI 2.1 to 9.0) and at 65 weeks (OR 3.0, 95% CI 1.5 to 6.0). Significantly more of the experimental than the control group met the recommendations for physical activity at 13 weeks (OR 5.3, 95% CI 1.9 to 14.8) and at 65 weeks (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.2 to 6.7).
Conclusion:
Behavioural graded activity results in better exercise adherence and more physical activity than usual care in people with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, both in the short- and long-term.
Trial Registration:
NCT00522106.