Yoga or strengthening exercise for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized clinical trial

Key Points

1. Both yoga and strengthening exercises improved knee pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) in patients with knee OA over 12 weeks and 24 weeks.

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Exercise therapy is recommended by all international guidelines as a first-line treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA) to improve pain and physical function (1). Previous research would suggest that many common types of exercises (e.g. resistance training, aquatic exercise, cycling, yoga, etc.) may help to reduce pain in patients with knee OA (2). However, there is limited high-quality evidence on the comparative effectiveness of different exercise modalities, such as yoga and strengthening exercises (2).

Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of yoga versus strengthening exercise for reducing knee pain over 12 weeks in patients with knee OA.

Exercise therapy is recommended by all international guidelines as a first-line treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA) to improve pain and physical function.

This study demonstrated that yoga and strengthening exercise were both equally effective in improving knee pain in adults with knee OA.

METHODS

• This study was a randomized clinical trial which included adults ≥40 years old with knee OA and knee pain levels of ≥40/100 on a visual analogue scale (VAS).

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