Feasibility of Multi-modal Physical Therapy in Latino Older Adults With Moderate Knee Osteoarthritis

Background: Hispanic Americans (HAs) experience more pain and mobility deficits associated with knee osteoarthritis (OA) compared to non-Hispanic whites (NHWs) and seek total knee arthroplasties at a reduced rate, thus conservative treatments are needed. Prevalence of knee OA among the older HA population is rising dramatically. There is moderate evidence that lower extremity strengthening, manual therapy and self-management training improve pain and physical performance in people with knee OA and little evidence in the HA population. We conducted a pilot prospective trial implementing a multimodal high intensity targeted strength training, manual therapy and self-management education intervention to evaluate feasibility of recruitment, retention and adherence and preliminary estimates of change on physical performance and health related quality of life (HrQOL) in HAs with moderate knee OA. If this trial is feasible and shows promise for efficacy, it may warrant further testing as a primary treatment for knee OA.

Methods: Spanish speaking older adults will be recruited from Kaiser Permanente San Francisco through a medical record search. Participants will attended 10 physical thearpy clinic visits over 8 weeks, followed by 4 weekly phone calls to assess adherence to exercise via 1-week verbal recall. Participants will be instructed to exercise 3 days per week for the study duration combining both clinic and home exercise participation. The intervention is led in Spanish and will include progressive open and closed-chain quadriceps and gluteal strengthening, progressive cycling training with short power intervals, manual therapy and self-management training.