SynthesisBMJ open2025
Effectiveness of exercise therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis: an overview of systematic reviews.
Synthesis in BMJ open, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Blood flow restriction with different loads versus moderate intensity resistive exercises in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a single-blind randomized controlled trial.BMC sports science, medicine & rehabilitation · 2026Article
- Effects of a Cycling-Based Aerobic Exercise Program Versus a Resistance and Neuromuscular Exercise Program on Exercise-Induced Hypoalgesia in Knee Osteoarthritis: A Study Protocol for a Randomized Clinical Trial.Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · 2026Article
- Implantable Shock Absorber for Knee Osteoarthritis in Older Patients: Evidence From Two Clinical Studies.Cureus · 2026Article
- Effects of thrombospondin-1 (THBS1) and toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) levels in the serum and synovial fluid of patients with knee osteoarthritis.Journal of medical biochemistry · 2026Article
- From paradox to population impact: Rethinking strengthening in knee osteoarthritis - A state-of-the-art review.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Review
- Physical Therapy-Based Realignment Strategies for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Systematic Review.Cureus · 2026Review
- Vacuum-Compression Therapy as an Adjunct to Physical Therapy in Patients with Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Comparative Study.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Knee osteoarthritis rehabilitation: an integrated framework of exercise, nutrition, biomechanics, and physical therapist guidance-a narrative review.European journal of medical research · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveThis study aimed to assess the methodological quality of published systematic reviews of exercise therapy in knee osteoarthritis and summarise their reported effectiveness on quality of life, knee joint function, or adverse events.
designOverview of systematic reviews. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science and CENTRAL (searched on 14 April 2025), plus grey literature (PROSPERO, Epistemonikos, OpenGrey). ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR SELECTING STUDIES: We included systematic reviews of randomised controlled trials in patients diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis by imaging or clinical criteria and treated conservatively with exercise therapy; we excluded reviews that enrolled patients scheduled for surgery, with acute inflammation or osteoarthritis of other joints (hand, hip, ankle), for which relevant author data could not be obtained after one contact attempt, or that did not report at least one primary outcome (quality of life, knee joint function or adverse events). DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Two reviewers independently extracted data on study characteristics, interventions and outcomes, and assessed methodological quality using the AMSTAR 2 (A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews 2) tool. Due to heterogeneity in outcome measures across systematic reviews, meta-analysis was not conducted. Effectiveness was defined as any reported beneficial outcome of exercise therapy on predefined outcomes, including quality of life, physical function, pain or adverse events.
results58 systematic reviews were selected. Muscle-strengthening (74.1%) and aerobic (48.2%) exercises were the most commonly prescribed exercise-based interventions. SF-36 (36-Item Short Form Health Survey) and the WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) were the most popular outcome-evaluation tools. Furthermore, 63.7% of the systematic reviews revealed that exercise therapy improved all outcomes. The number of intervention-related adverse events was small. Notably, almost all systematic reviews (87.4%) had a critically low quality.
conclusionsCurrent evidence on exercise therapy for knee osteoarthritis is inadequate. Nevertheless, exercise therapy can be considered for conservative treatment of knee osteoarthritis. Future studies should use network meta-analyses to compare the effects of different exercise therapies and determine their superiority over other conservative therapies.
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Registered trials
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.