Purpose: The aim of this review was to provide a qualitative and quantitative overview of the effects of exercise on pain, physical function, and quality of life for patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis.
Materials and methods: This study was an umbrella and mapping review with meta-meta-analysis. Meta-analyses of randomized controlled trials were included. The methodological quality and risk of bias were evaluated using the Modified Quality Assessment Scale for Systematic Reviews and the Risk of Bias in Systematic Reviews tool. The quality of evidence was evaluated using the Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee Grading Criteria.
Results: 41 meta-analyses were included, 43.9% of the studies had adequate methodological quality, and 56.1% of the studies had a low risk of bias. Moderate evidence was found that exercise decreases pain intensity (33 meta-analyses; SMD = -0.49; 95% CI -0.56 to -0.42), improves function (19 meta-analyses; SMD = -0.50; 95% CI -0.58 to -0.41), strength (6 meta-analyses; SMD = -0.57; 95% CI -0.70 to -0.44) and quality of life (SMD = -0.36; 95% CI -0.46 to -0.27) for patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis.
Conclusion: Exercise is an effective intervention to decrease pain intensity and improve function in patients with hip and knee osteoarthritis.(PROSPERO, CRD42020221987).
Keywords: Knee osteoarthritis; exercise; hip osteoarthritis; pain; physical function.
Exercise in hip and knee osteoarthritis has shown improvement in pain, function, strength, and quality of life in different studies, but no differences have been observed in others.The meta-meta-analysis of the present article find that exercise produces significant improvements in pain, function, strength, and quality of life of patients with knee and/or hip osteoarthritis with a small effect size and significant heterogeneity.There is moderate evidence that exercise is effective in reducing pain and increasing function, strength, and quality of life of patients with knee and hip osteoarthritis.