Community-based exercise program reduces chronic knee pain in elderly Japanese women at high risk of requiring long-term care: a non-randomized controlled trial

To estimate the prevalence of low back pain and/or knee pain among the elderly at high risk of requiring long-term care, and to determine the effectiveness of a community-based exercise program provided in accordance with the Motor Function Improvement Program for improving low back and/or knee pain.

The target population of this study was 320 residents aged ≥65 years who were eligible for the exercise program. For the intervention group, weekly exercise classes of 120 min duration were held 12 times over 3 months. The main outcome measures were changes between the baseline and 3-month follow up in visual analog scale (VAS) scores for pain and in the Western Ontario McMaster Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain for severity of knee pain.

The number of participants reporting chronic low back and/or knee pain was 252 with a prevalence of 78.8%. Among them, 68 who were allocated to the intervention group and 125 to the control group completed the study, and were stratified by sex. In women, change in the VAS scores of low back pain was -17.5±23.2 for the intervention group and -7.2±23.4 for the control group (between-group differences P=0.03). For knee pain, significant changes in the VAS scores (between-group differences P=0.04) and WOMAC pain (P<0.001) were observed; -14.9±24.9 and -0.6±3.1 for the intervention group, and -0.2±28.5 and 2.2±3.2 for the control group, respectively. No significant difference was observed in men.

Community-based exercise programs might reduce prevalent knee pain in elderly women at high risk of requiring long-term care.