Progressive resistance training not superior to neuromuscular exercise for hip OA

Progressive resistant training (PRT) does not seem to work better than neuromuscular exercise (NEMEX) for easing hip pain and improving functional performance or hip-related quality of life (QoL) in patients with hip osteoarthritis (OA), reports a recent study.

This multicentre, cluster-randomized, controlled trial enrolled 160 participants with clinically diagnosed hip OA from 18 January 2021 to 28 April 2023. Of these, 82 were randomized to PRT and 78 to NEMEX for 12 weeks with two supervised 60-minute group sessions each week.

Participants in the PRT arm underwent five high-intensity resistance training exercises that targeted muscles at the hip and knee joints. Those in the NEMEX arm had 10 exercises focusing on sensorimotor control and functional stability.

Change in the 30-sec chair stand test was the primary endpoint, while secondary ones included changes in scores on the pain and hip-related QoL subscales of the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS).

From baseline to week 12, the mean changes in the primary endpoint were 1.5 (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.9‒2.1) chair stands in the PRT group and 1.5 (95 percent CI, 0.9‒2.1) chair stands in the NEMEX group (difference, 0.0, 95 percent CI, ‒0.8 to 0.8).

For the HOOS pain subscale, the mean changes were 8.6 (95 percent CI, 5.3‒11.8) and 9.3 (95 percent CI, 5.9‒12.6) points with PRT and NEMEX, respectively (difference, ‒0.7, 95 percent CI, ‒5.3 to 4.0). In terms of QoL, mean changes in the HOOS subscale were 8.0 (95 percent CI, 4.3‒11.7) points with PRT and 5.7 (95 percent CI, 1.9‒9.5) points with NEMEX (difference, 2.3, 95 percent CI, ‒3.0 to 7.6).

The study was limited by the nonblinding of participants and physiotherapists.