Trial reportArthritis research & therapy2023
Examining the influence of pain neuroscience education followed by a Pilates exercises program in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Arthritis research & therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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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, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pain science education and exercise interventions for people with knee or hip osteoarthritis: a systematic review, content and meta-analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of Pilates Exercise on Health-Related Outcomes in Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.International journal of rheumatic diseases · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy of aerobic exercises for knee osteoarthritis: a network meta analysis of randomized clinical trials.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Comparative efficacy of mind-body exercise for pain, function, quality of life in knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Safety and Efficacy of Poly-L-Lactic Acid Filler (Gana V vs. Sculptra) Injection for Correction of the Nasolabial Fold: A Double-Blind, Non-Inferiority, Randomized, Split-Face Controlled Trial.Aesthetic plastic surgery · 2023Trial
- Neuromuscular exercise combined with pain neuroscience education for knee osteoarthritis management in older women: protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2026Article
- Therapeutic Patient Education in Adults with Chronic Lower Limb Musculoskeletal Pain: A Scoping Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Pain catastrophizing in rheumatic diseases: prevalence, origin, and implications.Rheumatology international · 2024Review
- Effectiveness of multimodal active physiotherapy for chronic knee pain: a 12-month randomized controlled trial follow-up study.Frontiers in physiology · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundKnee osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial form of rheumatic condition contributing to physical and psychological factors. Treatments have been provided solely and often compared with each other. An alternative view is that combined treatments addressing physical and psychological factors may result in more benefits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of pain neuroscience education (PNE) followed by Pilates exercises (PEs) in participants with knee OA, compared to PE alone.
methodsIn this two-arm assessor-blind pilot randomized controlled trial, fifty-four community-dwelling adults with knee OA were randomly assigned to the PNE followed by PEs and PEs groups (27 in each group). The study was conducted between early July 2021 and early March 2022 at the university's health center. Primary outcomes were Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) subscales of pain and physical limitation and secondary outcomes were Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and Timed "Up & Go" test covering function. The primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and eight weeks post-treatment. A general linear mixed model was used for between-group comparison with a statistical significance level of 0.05.
resultsSignificant within-group differences were observed in all outcomes in both groups at post-treatment. There were no statistically between-group differences in pain (adjusted mean difference: -0.8; 95% CI -2.2 to 0.7; p = 0.288), physical limitation (adjusted mean difference: -0.4; 95% CI -4 to 3.1; p = 0.812) and function (adjusted mean difference: -0.8; 95% CI -1.8 to 0.1; p = 0.069) at eight weeks. For pain catastrophizing (adjusted mean difference: -3.9; 95% CI -7.2 to -0.6; p = 0.021), kinesiophobia (adjusted mean difference: -4.2; 95% CI -8.1 to -0.4; p = 0.032), and self-efficacy (adjusted mean difference: 6.1; 95% CI 0.7 to 11.5; p = 0.028) statistically between-group improvements were observed favoring PNE followed by PEs group after the treatment.
conclusionsCombining PNE with PEs could have superior effects on psychological characteristics but not on pain, physical limitation, and function, compared to PEs alone. This pilot study emphasizes the need to investigate the combined effects of different interventions.
trial registrationIRCT20210701051754N1.
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