Telerehabilitation for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis

Telerehabilitation for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis. A Randomized Controlled Trial

Digital health utilization in the form of telerehabilitation is a popular technology that is very little researched for musculoskeletal disorders particularly hip and knee osteoarthritis (OA). The progression of OA will lead to total hip or knee replacement surgery. As a consequence, the advancing aging population leads to an increased burden on the healthcare system due to rising osteoarthritis. That's why, we will conduct a randomized controlled trial to explore the effectiveness of telerehabilitation in hip and knee osteoarthritis. This study will recruit OA patients into control and experimental groups. The control group will receive a patient education while the experimental group will undergo remote exercise sessions. Both groups will receive one supervised session a week for 5 weeks. The pre- and post-outcome measures will be recorded for functional status of hip and knee, muscle strength, and range of motions of the lower extremity. This innovative study will evaluate the effectiveness of a telemedicine intervention applied to a clinical population in Taiwan. The use of telerehabilitation interventions aims to reduce treatment and transportation costs, as well as save time for patients with OA. This digital health approach also helps to alleviate the workload of physiotherapists and rehabilitation doctors in clinics. The findings from this study could broaden the scope for using remote digital technology to assist clinical patients in diverse settings, especially those with limited or no hospital access.

Study Overview

• Status: Suspended
• Conditions: Osteoarthritis, Knee; Osteoarthritis, Hip
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Telerehabilitation; Behavioral: Standard care

Detailed Description

Purpose: To conduct a randomized controlled trial to explore the efficacy of telerehabilitation intervention for 5 weeks in a clinical population with hip and knee osteoarthritis.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 110
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Taiwan
  • New Taipei City, Taiwan, 235
    • Taipei Medical University-Shuang Ho Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. diagnosed with hip or knee osteoarthritis within last one year
2. having sub-acute or chronic symptoms of pain and functional disability
3. living in an area served by high-speed Internet services (at least 512 kb/s in upload)
4. living within an hour driving distance from the treating hospital
5. physically fit to provide a written consent to participate in this study

Exclusion Criteria:

1. taking sedatives, autoimmune, or other medication that can interfere with their exercise program
2. any health issues that could affect the tests or the rehabilitation program, including surgery over the recent six months
3. having diagnosed with cognitive disorders
4. having recent surgery or major postoperative complications

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Single

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Telerehabilitation; Receive a remote exercise program for 40 minutes once a week for 5 weeks	Behavioral: Telerehabilitation; Exercise program include Warm-up, Targeted muscle Strengthening, Joint mobilization, and Proprioception
Placebo Comparator: Standard care; Receive a patient education session once a week for 5 weeks	Behavioral: Standard care; Education session on their pain, disability, and functional activities

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)	A questionnaire	The outcome measures will be recorded before and after finish all 5 week of the intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Muscle strength	Static muscle strength of hip and knee flexors and extensors	The outcome measures will be recorded before and after finish all 5 week of the intervention
Range of motion	The Range of motions of hip and knee flexion and extension	The outcome measures will be recorded before and after finish all 5 week of the intervention

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Borg rate of perceived exertion (RPE)	6-20 points rating, a score ≤11 will be considered as "low fatigue" and >11 as "high fatigue	Evaluate every week for 5 weeks during each exercise session of the experimental group
International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF)	A questionnaire	The outcome measures will be recorded before and after finish all 5 week of the intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Hung-Chou Chen, Dr., Taipei Medical University Shuang Ho Hospital

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 6, 2025
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 26, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 23, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 28, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): March 30, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 5, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 29, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Osteoarthritis; Randomized controlled trial; Telerehabilitation
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Musculoskeletal Diseases; Arthritis; Joint Diseases; Rheumatic Diseases; Osteoarthritis; Osteoarthritis, Knee; Osteoarthritis, Hip; Health Services Administration; Delivery of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Therapeutics; Quality of Health Care; Quality Indicators, Health Care; Patient Care; Health Services; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Rehabilitation; Aftercare; Continuity of Patient Care; Telemedicine; Patient Care Management; Standard of Care; Telerehabilitation
• Other Study ID Numbers: TMU-IJRB-N202412017

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

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