Is There a Connection Between Knee OA Pain and Daily Walking?

Daily walking levels did not appear to be associated with knee pain in individuals with mild‐to‐moderate, symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA), according to a new study.

To assess this relationship, the researchers from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, analyzed 59 participants with knee osteoarthritis every 3 months for up to 3 years.

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While participants’ daily walking levels were measured by accelerometry, which calculated the average steps per day taken over at least 3 days, their pain was measured by 2 questionnaires: pain subscale of the Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score and P4 pain scale.

The covariates of age, body mass index, and season were all predictors of physical activity. However, the pain recorded in both questionnaires was not associated with physical activity.

“While pain management remains an important target of interventions, strategies to increase steps per day in this population should focus on overcoming potentially more crucial barriers to activity participation,” the researchers concluded.

—Colleen Murphy

Reference:

Brisson NM, Gatti AA, Maly MR. Pain is not associated with steps per day in persons with mild‐to‐moderate, symptomatic knee osteoarthritis – a mixed models analysis of multiple measurements over 3 years [published online March 6, 2019]. Arthritis Care Res. https://doi.org/10.1002/acr.23842.