Gait Retraining for Runners With Knee Osteoarthritis

March 4, 2026 updated by: Michael Hunt, University of British Columbia

The Effects of Gait Retraining in Runners With Knee Osteoarthritis

Tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (TFOA) is highly prevalent in older adults, and often causes symptoms and functional limitations. Physical activity is widely advocated in people with TFOA, and running is an easy and accessible activity that provides many benefits on general health. However, running induces high knee loads, which could potentially contribute to symptoms of runners with TFOA. Previous studies have suggested that running gait modifications can help in decreasing symptoms and knee loading in runners with knee conditions. Yet, no study has been conducted in runners with TFOA. This intervention study will investigate the effects of a 4-week running gait retraining program on symptoms and running biomechanics in runners with TFOA. We hypothesize that running modifications will decrease symptoms, improve function and reduce knee loading.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Withdrawn

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • British Columbia
      • Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, V5Z 1M9
        • Robert H.N. Ho Research Centre

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • TFOA of Grade 2 (mild) or 3 (moderate) on the Kellgren and Lawrence scale
  • report knee pain greater than or equal to 3/10 on a numerical pain rating scale (0-10) during most days of the previous month
  • run at least 10 km per week for a minimum of 6 months
  • declare being comfortable running on a treadmill for at least 30 minutes

Exclusion Criteria:

  • history of traumatic knee injury
  • neurological or inflammatory arthritic condition
  • cardiovascular or cardiopulmonary disease preventing from safely performing moderate intensity running
  • presence of any lower limb condition affecting running (other than TFOA)
  • use of any oral or injected corticosteroids or viscosupplementation in the previous six months
  • regular use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, analgesics or knee unloading bracing devices before, during or after running
  • non-English speaking

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Gait retraining
Runners will be taught how to modify their running gait through multiple laboratory sessions and in-field training.
Behavioral: Gait retraining
Over a 4-week period, runners will be asked to increase their step rate to reduce knee loading during running. Specifically, they will have to increase their preferred step rate by 10% during weekly laboratory running sessions as well as during habitual running training. In the laboratory, runners will be provided with live visual/auditory biofeedback on step rate and asked to target a specific value representing 110% or preferred step rate. During their individual running sessions, runners will be wearing a GPS-enabled watch that will provide feedback on live step rate, and they will be asked to maintain the same value as in the laboratory.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Knee Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) change
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Validated questionnaire on symptoms and functional limitations related to knee osteoarthritis. The score is expressed in percentage (0-100), with 0 representing extreme knee problems and 100 representing no knee problems.
Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Peak knee adduction moment impulse change
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks, 4 months
Validated surrogate measure of knee joint loading during movement. Expressed as Nm/kg*sec
Baseline, 4 weeks, 4 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Numerical pain rating scale for pain during running change
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Validated scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst imaginable pain), in which participants rate their worst level of pain during running over the previous week.
Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Step rate change
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks, 4 months
Number of steps taken during one minute of running.
Baseline, 4 weeks, 4 months
Peak knee flexion moment impulse change
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 weeks, 4 months
Validated surrogate measure of knee joint loading during running. Expressed as Nm/kg*sec
Baseline, 4 weeks, 4 months

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Compliance with gait retraining change
Time Frame: During Week 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the retraining program
Compliance with instructions on step rate will be measured through data collected with the provided watch and a logbook. We will also monitor weekly running distance during the course of the study.
During Week 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the retraining program
Numeric pain rating scale for usual pain change
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Validated scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst imaginable pain), in which participants rate their level of pain during their usual daily activities over the previous week.
Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Numeric pain rating scale for worst pain change
Time Frame: Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months
Validated scale ranging from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst imaginable pain), in which participants rate their worst level of pain over the previous week.
Baseline, 2 weeks, 4 weeks, 2 months, 3 months, 4 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of British Columbia

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Michael A Hunt, PT, PhD, University of British Columbia

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
July 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
October 13, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
October 17, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
October 19, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
March 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
March 4, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • H17-01228

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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