Arthritis Ireland Arthritis Ireland

Osteoarthritis patients may be able to improve their levels of pain and physical function by adhering to their recommended exercise programme, a study has confirmed. Scientists at the Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research (NIVEL) studied 150 patients with osteoarthritis of the hip or knee, all of whom received exercise therapy.

Participants were followed for 60 months to see how well they adhered to their recommended exercise regime and the effect their level of adherence had on their joint disease. Publishing their findings in the journal Arthritis Care & Research, the study authors revealed that 57.8 per cent of participants were adhering to their recommended exercises at their three-month follow-up, while 53.8 per cent were doing recommended activities such as walking or cycling.

Those who were exercising as suggested tended to benefit from reduced pain and reported improvements in physical function. Lead author Martijn Pisters confirmed: "Better adherence to home exercises and being more physically active improves the long-term effectiveness of exercise therapy in patients with osteoarthritis of the hip and/or knee."

However, the researchers found that many people stopped exercising after the completion of physiotherapy and just 30.1 per cent were still exercising at their 60-month follow-up.

"Future research should focus on how exercise behaviour can be stimulated and maintained in the long term to improve outcomes for patients with osteoarthritis," Mr Pisters suggested.