Implementation of Tele-Exercise for Management of Knee Osteoarthritis in Older Rural Primary Care Patients

Lead Sponsor: University of Washington

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is highly prevalent and a leading cause of pain that limits physical functioning in older adults. Clinical practice guidelines recommend physical exercise for managing symptoms of knee OA. As a result, several evidence-based exercise programs have been implemented in community centers. However, access to these programs is severely limited in rural settings. Considering that rural communities have a higher disease burden and higher proportion of older adults than non-rural areas, there is a critical need to (1) adapt evidence-based exercise programs for remote delivery to increase access for rural older adults and (2) develop pathways to implement exercise programs in rural health care systems that consistently reach and engage patients with knee OA. Accordingly, we aim to engage rural primary care practices (including medical directors, clinicians, and staff) to develop a clinical pathway that refers patients to an evidence-based exercise program, called Enhance Fitness® (EF), which we have adapted for remote delivery (tele-EF). Enhance Fitness is a group exercise program that is recommended by the CDC for OA management. It is available in over 800 sites nationally and is covered by Medicare Advantage plans, but it is generally not available in rural communities. In addition, we will assess the feasibility and acceptability of implementing the clinical pathway that identifies physically inactive older patients with knee OA, facilitates exercise prescription, and streamlines referral to tele-EF in a rural primary care clinic over a 5-month period.

• Knee Osteoarthritis

Intervention Type: Behavioral

Intervention Name: Tele-EnhanceFitness

Description: Livestream, instructor-led tele-exercise classes, involving balance, endurance, and strength training

Arm Group Label: Tele-EF

Criteria:

Inclusion Criteria: - Age ≥65 years - Community-dwelling - English-speaking - Physician diagnosed knee osteoarthritis - Physically inactive as determined by the 2-item Physical Activity Vital Sign questionnaire Exclusion Criteria: - Cognitive impairment determined by a Mini Montreal Cognitive Assessment score of <11 - Significant, non-corrected visual or hearing impairment - Plans to move out of the area in the next 6 months - Cancer requiring treatment (except for non-melanoma skin cancer) in the past 6 months - Heart attack in the past 6 months - Stroke in the past 6 months - Hip fracture in the past 6 months - Hip/knee replacement in the past 6 months - Spinal surgery in the past 6 months - Heart surgery in the past 6 months - Deep vein thrombosis in the past 6 months - Pulmonary embolus in the past 6 months - Hospitalization within the last month - ≥3 falls within the past month

Gender: All

Minimum Age: 65 Years

Maximum Age: N/A

Healthy Volunteers: No

Last Name: Kushang V Patel, PhD

Phone: 2066168052

Email: [email protected]

United States

January 2021

Type: Principal Investigator

Investigator Affiliation: University of Washington

Investigator Full Name: Kushang Patel

Investigator Title: Research Associate Professor

• Osteoarthritis
• Osteoarthritis, Knee

Label: Tele-EF

Type: Experimental

Description: Tele-EnhanceFitness

Allocation: N/A

Intervention Model: Single Group Assignment

Primary Purpose: Treatment

Masking: None (Open Label)