The Effect of a Group Exercise Intervention on Balance in People With Knee Osteoarthritis: a Pilot Study

In this study, the investigators want to find out if a 12-week exercise program improves balance in people with knee osteoarthritis.

This study will involve two visits to the School of Kinesiology at the University of the Fraser Valley (Chilliwack campus). Each visit will last approximately one hour. Participants will be asked to fill out questionnaires and complete a balance test. In between visits, participants will complete 12 weeks of an exercise program specifically designed for adults with osteoarthritis. Participants will do the exercise classes twice per week. Classes can be done in person or at home

Each exercise class is 45-minutes long and consists of flexibility, strength, and coordination exercises. In each class there are options to either increase or decrease the intensity of each exercise to cater to varying fitness levels and fluctuating symptoms. Each exercise has an assisted (using a chair for balance), body weight, and resisted (weight or exercise tubing) option. Participants will fill out an exercise diary each week to let the investigators know what days they did the exercise classes, and whether they experienced any changes in their knee osteoarthritis symptoms.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Knee Osteoarthritis
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Exercise intervention

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 32
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Gillian Hatfield, PhD; Phone Number: 2217 1 604-504-7441; Email: gillian.hatfield@ufv.ca

Study Locations

• Canada
  • British Columbia
    • Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, V2R0N3
      • Recruiting
      • University of the Fraser Valley
      • Contact: Gillian Hatfield, PhD; Phone Number: 2217 1 604-504-7441; Email: gillian.hatfield@ufv.ca
      • Contact: Gillian Hatfield, PhD
    • Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada, V2R0N3
      • Not yet recruiting
      • University of the Fraser Valley
      • Contact: Gillian Hatfield, PhD; Phone Number: 2217 1 604-504-7441; Email: gillian.hatfield@ufv.ca

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Medial compartment knee osteoarthritis, diagnosed from a physician or meeting the American College of Rheumatology Clinical Classification Criteria for Osteoarthritis of the knee
• Pass the Get Active Questionnaire to ensure that they are safe to begin an exercise program

Exclusion Criteria:

i) severe knee trauma, knee surgery, or intraarticular knee joint injections in the previous six months ii) active synovitis iii) concurrent neurological (i.e. Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's dementia, or polyneuropathy), endocrine (i.e., diabetes mellitus) and/or vestibular disorders which may affect balance iv) chronic disease that may put them at risk during the exercise classes (i.e., history of heart failure, stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease) v) uncorrected visual impairment which may affect balance vi) an inflammatory rheumatic disease (i.e., rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, and chronic reactive arthritis)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Exercise program; Twice weekly exercise classes, for 12 weeks	Behavioral: Exercise intervention; 45 minute exercise classes. Twice per week for 12 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Balance- Community Balance and Mobility Scale	Community Balance and Mobility Scale- scaled from 0 to 96, where higher scores indicate higher balance (better outcome).	From enrolment until the end of the treatment at 12 weeks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Symptoms- Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index	Western Ontario and McMaster University (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index- Scores range from 0 to 96 for the total WOMAC where 0 represents the best health status and 96 the worst possible status.	From enrolment until the end of the treatment at 12 weeks.
Symptoms- Oxford Knee Score	The Oxford Knee Score is scored from 0-48, where higher scores are a better outcome.	From enrolment until the end of the treatment at 12 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of the Fraser Valley
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gillian Hatfield, PhD, University of the Fraser Valley

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): February 18, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 19, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 19, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 20, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 28, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 1, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2025
• Last Verified: January 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: knee osteoarthritis; exercise; balance
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases; Arthritis; Joint Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee
• Other Study ID Numbers: 101716

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Deidentified pre and post intervention data (age, sex, height, mass, WOMAC and Oxford Knee Score scores, and Community Balance and Mobility Scores) will be shared on reasonable request.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Available from August 2025 until August 2034
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Data will be shared with other researchers at academic institutions. A proposal that describes planned analyses must be submitted and a data sharing agreement must be signed. Proposals may be submitted to the primary investigator for review.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: STUDY_PROTOCOL

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