Telerehabilitation for Knee Osteoarthritis: Study Protocol

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF NOVO MESTO · Aug 15, 2025

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This study is testing whether a knee osteoarthritis care program delivered at home through telerehabilitation (remote physiotherapy with video calls and weekly check-ins) works better than standard written exercise instructions. It’s a randomized, two-group trial lasting about 12 weeks (at least three months). The main things they’ll look at are pain levels, knee function, joint movement, daily activity, and overall quality of life to see if the telerehabilitation approach provides more benefit than home exercises alone. They’ll also track things like how well people stick to the program, satisfaction with the tele approach, and reasons for stopping or reducing exercise.

To be eligible, adults aged 50–80 with symptomatic knee OA seen at the center must have a knee X-ray showing mild to moderate OA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade 1–3) and have computer access to use the tele program. They must not have severe OA that needs surgery soon, recent knee surgery or injections, inflammatory arthritis, cognitive issues, or be wheelchair users, among other exclusions. After baseline assessments (including age, BMI, knee movement, pain, function, activity, and quality of life) participants will be randomly assigned to either the Telerehabilitation group (roughly 20–25 minute sessions, three times a week, with remote support for at least three months) or a Control group (written home-exercise instructions only). The study is led by the University of Novo Mesto in Slovenia and is currently enrolling by invitation; results are not yet available.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Patients with symptomatic OA of the knee joint, graded 1-3 on the Kellgren-Lawrence scale
• • 2. Patients older than 50 years
• • 3. Patients with access to and proficiency in using a computer,
• • 4. Patients with the capability to follow the exercises outlined.
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • 1. Grade 4 cartilage defect (cartilage defect up to the subchondral bone), for which surgical treatment is professionally indicated,
• • 2. Planned arthroplasty of the knee joint within the next 6 months,
• • 3. Patients who have had a previous TEP arthroplasty or partial knee arthroplasty (hereafter PEP),
• • 4. Patients with a history of trauma or surgical treatment of the knee joint (osteotomy or treatment of cartilage lesions) in the last 6 months,
• • 5. Patients who have received an intra-articular injection in the knee joint in the last 3 months,
• • 6. Patients who have systemic inflammatory arthritis (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis or gout) or those who have concomitant medical conditions that prevent participation in exercise,
• • 7. Patients who have cognitive impairments or are wheelchair users,
• • 8. Who has co-morbidities,
• • 9. Those who do not have access to a computer have limited language skills that prevent the correct use of tele-rehabilitation or
• • 10. Those who are involved in similar study.