Exercise May Not Help Hip Arthritis as Much as Patients…

Exercise May Not Help Hip Arthritis as Much as Patients Expect, New Cochrane Review Finds Exercise is almost universally recommended as first line treatment for hip osteoarthritis. A new Cochrane review, one of the most rigorous forms of medical evidence review, suggests it's time for a more honest conversation with patients about just how much relief to realistically expect. Researchers from the University of Sydney and University of Melbourne analysed 18 clinical trials involving 1,368 participants with hip osteoarthritis, most of them women aged 53 to 74. The exercise programs studied varied considerably, ranging from just two weeks to a full year, and included strengthening exercises, aerobic activity, and mind body approaches. The finding, benefits were real but genuinely modest: Compared to usual care or no treatment, exercise reduced pain by only about 7 points on a 100 point scale. Here's the important clinical context, experts generally consider a reduction of at least 12 points necessary for patients to actually notice a meaningful difference in their daily lives. In other words, t