Observational studyBMJ open2023
Day-to-day variability of knee pain and the relationship with physical activity in people with knee osteoarthritis: an observational, feasibility study using consumer smartwatches.
Observational study in BMJ open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
5 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Exploring the bidirectional temporal association between daily knee pain and physical activity in people with knee osteoarthritis: An exploratory smartwatch study.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Honey Phonophoresis as an Adjunctive Multimodal Intervention in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Case Report.International medical case reports journal · 2026Article
- Temporal Associations of Physical Activity With Subsequent Knee Pain in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Article
- Users' views on the use of a smartwatch app to collect daily symptom data in individuals with multiple long-term conditions (Multimorbidity): A qualitative study.Journal of multimorbidity and comorbidityArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo assess the feasibility of using smartwatches in people with knee osteoarthritis (OA) to determine the day-to-day variability of pain and the relationship between daily pain and step count.
designObservational, feasibility study.
settingIn July 2017, the study was advertised in newspapers, magazines and, on social media. Participants had to be living/willing to travel to Manchester. Recruitment was in September 2017 and data collection was completed in January 2018.
participants26 participants aged OUTCOME MEASURES: Participants were provided with a consumer cellular smartwatch with a bespoke app that triggered a series of daily questions including two times per day questions about level of knee pain and one time per month question from the pain subscale of the Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) questionnaire. The smartwatch also recorded daily step counts.
resultsOf the 25 participants, 13 were men and their mean age was 65 years (standard deviation (SD) 8 years). The smartwatch app was successful in simultaneously assessing and recording data on knee pain and step count in real time. Knee pain was categorised into sustained high/low or fluctuating levels, but there was considerable day-to-day variation within these categories. Levels of knee pain in general correlated with pain assessed by KOOS. Those with sustained high/low levels of pain had a similar daily step count average (mean 3754 (SD 2524)/4307 (SD 2992)), but those with fluctuating pain had much lower step count levels (mean 2064 (SD 1716)).
conclusionsSmartwatches can be used to assess pain and physical activity in knee OA. Larger studies may help inform a better understanding of causal links between physical activity patterns and pain. In time, this could inform development of personalised physical activity recommendations for people with knee OA.
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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.