Neuromuscular joint function in knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The impact of Yoga on patients with knee osteoarthritis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this review is to conduct a comprehensive and systematic assessment of the efficacy of Yoga as an intervention for knee osteoarthritis (KOA).

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Web of Science, and PEDro as of January 3, 2024. Retrieved a total of 200 articles. Standardised mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated.

RESULTS

The study included a total of 8 trials and involved 756 KOA patients. The results indicated that compared to the control group, Yoga exercise showed significant improvements in alleviating pain (SMD = -0.92; 95% CI = -1.64 ~ - 0.20; P = 0.01, I2 = 94%), stiffness (SMD = -0.51; 95% CI = -0.91 ~ -0.12; P = 0.01; I2 = 66%) and physical function (SMD = -0.53; 95% CI = -0.89 ~ -0.17; P = 0.004; I2 = 59%) among KOA patients. However, there was no significant improvement observed in terms of activities of activity of daily living (ADL) (SMD = 1.03; 95% CI = -0.01 ~ 2.07; P = 0.05; I2 = 84%), and quality of life (QOL) (SMD = 0.21; 95% CI = -0.33 ~ 0.74; P = 0.44; I2 = 83%) with the practice of Yoga.

CONCLUSIONS

In general, Yoga has been found to be effective in reducing pain and stiffness in KOA patients, it can also improve the physical function of patients. However, there is limited evidence to suggest significant improvements in terms of ADL and QOL.

Effectiveness of Yijinjing exercise in the treatment of early-stage knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial protocol

INTRODUCTION

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is still a challenging degenerative joint disease with high morbidity and disease burden. Early-stage KOA, the focus of this study, could present a Window of Opportunity to arrest the disease process and reduce the disease burden. Yijinjing exercise is an important part of physical and psychological therapies in Traditional Chinese Exercise and may be an effective treatment. However, there is no clinical efficacy assessment of Yijinjing exercise for patients with early-stage KOA. Therefore, we designed a randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of Yijinjing exercise on patients with early-stage KOA.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This is a parallel-design, two-arm, analyst assessor-blinded, randomised controlled trial. In total, 60 patients with early-stage KOA will be recruited and randomly assigned to the Yijinjing exercise group (n=30) and health education group (n=30) at a ratio of 1:1, receiving 12 weeks of Yijinjing exercise or health education accordingly. The primary outcome will be measured with the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, and the secondary outcomes will include the Visual Analogue Scale, Short-Form 36 Item Health Survey Questionnaire, Beck Depression Inventory, Perceived Stress Scale, Berg Balance Scale, and Gait Analysis for a comprehensive assessment. Outcome measures are collected at baseline, at 12 week ending intervention and at the 12 week, 24 week and 48 week ending follow-up. The primay time point will be 12 weeks postintervention. Adverse events will be recorded for safety assessment.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study has been approved by the ethical application of the Shanghai Municipal Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Ethics Committee (2021SHL-KY-78).

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ChiCTR2200065178.