Trial reportClinical rheumatology2023
A pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating outdoor community walking for knee osteoarthritis: walk.
Trial report in Clinical rheumatology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy of aerobic exercises for knee osteoarthritis: a network meta analysis of randomized clinical trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Exercise for osteoarthritis of the knee.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024Pooled it
- Three-Dimensional gait biomechanics in patients with mild knee osteoarthritis.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- A Catalog of "Knee Friendly" Aerobic Exercises Developed for Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: An International Patient Survey.ACR open rheumatology · 2025Article
- Cathepsin K Inhibitors as Potential Drugs for the Treatment of Osteoarthritis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- Pre-exercise and acute movement-evoked pain trajectories during a 24-week outdoor walking program for knee osteoarthritis (WALK).Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2024Article
- Interventions to improve outdoor mobility among people living with disabilities: A systematic review.Campbell systematic reviews · 2024Review
- Feasibility of pain informed movement program for people with knee osteoarthritis.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2023Article
- Efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma combined with Tai Chi for knee osteoarthritis: study protocol for a placebo-controlled randomized trial.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors at 5 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo determine the feasibility of a randomized controlled trial (RCT) examining outdoor walking on knee osteoarthritis (KOA) clinical outcomes and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) structural changes.
methodThis was a 24-week parallel two-arm pilot RCT in Tasmania, Australia. KOA participants were randomized to either a walking plus usual care group or a usual care control group. The walking group trained 3 days/week. The primary outcome was feasibility assessed by changes being required to the study design, recruitment, randomization, program adherence, safety, and retention. Exploratory outcomes were changes in symptoms, physical performance/activity, and MRI measures.
resultsForty participants (mean age 66 years (SD 1.4) and 60% female) were randomized to walking (n = 24) or usual care (n = 16). Simple randomization resulted in a difference in numbers randomized to the two groups. During the study, class sizes were reduced from 10 to 8 participants to improve supervision, and exclusion criteria were added to facilitate program adherence. In the walking group, total program adherence was 70.0% and retention 70.8% at 24 weeks. The walking group had a higher number of mild adverse events and experienced clinically important improvements in symptoms (e.g., visual analogue scale (VAS) knee pain change in the walking group: - 38.7 mm [95% CI - 47.1 to - 30.3] versus usual care group: 4.3 mm [- 4.9 to 13.4]).
conclusionsThis study supports the feasibility of a full-scale RCT given acceptable adherence, retention, randomization, and safety, and recruitment challenges have been identified. Large symptomatic benefits support the clinical usefulness of a subsequent trial. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: 12618001097235. Key Points • This pilot study is the first to investigate the effects of an outdoor walking program on knee osteoarthritis clinical outcomes and MRI joint structure, and it indicates that a full-scale RCT is feasible. • The outdoor walking program (plus usual care) resulted in large improvements in self-reported knee osteoarthritis symptoms compared to usual care alone. • The study identified recruitment challenges, and the manuscript explores these in more details and provides recommendations for future studies.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.