Tai Chi Mind-Body Therapy for Knee Osteoarthritis
Completed · Not applicable
Conditions studied: Knee Osteoarthritis
In brief
The purpose of this study was to compare the safety and effectiveness of Tai Chi with an Attention Control intervention consisting of a stretching and wellness education program involving 40 patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee. We hypothesized that the participants receiving Tai Chi would show greater improvement in knee pain, physical and psychological functioning, and health-related quality of life than participants in the Attention Control group, and that the benefit would be mediated by effects on muscle function, musculoskeletal flexibility and mental health.
Key facts
- Study ID
- NCT00362453
- Run by
- Tufts Medical Center
- People needed
- 40
- Starts
- 2005-08-01
- Expected to finish
- 2009-06-01
- Last updated by the study team
- 2019-04-23
Who can join
Age: 55 and older. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.
You may qualify if…
- Age 55 or older
- Body Mass Index (BMI) <= 40 kg/m
- Pain on more than half the days of the past month during at least one of the following activities (walking, going up or down stairs, standing upright, or in bed at night
- Radiographic evidence of knee OA, defined as the presence of osteophytes in the tibiofemoral compartment and/or the patellofemoral compartment, as assessed on standing anterior/posterior and lateral views
- WOMAC pain subscale score, at least 1 of 5 (range 0 to 100 each) >= 40 (visual analog version)
- Physically able to participate in both the Tai Chi and stretching and education programs
- Willing to complete the 12-week study, including twice a week Tai Chi or stretching and education sessions
- Willing to abstain from Tai Chi until completion of the program, if randomized to the stretching and education sessions
- Willing to abstain from stretching and education sessions until completion of the program, if randomized to Tai Chi
You may not qualify if…
- Prior experience with Tai Chi or other similar types of Complementary and Alternative Medicine such as Qi gong, yoga, and acupuncture since these share some of the principles of Tai Chi
- Dementia, neurological disease, cardiovascular disease, pulmonary disease, metabolic disease, renal disease, liver disease, or other serious medical conditions limiting ability to participate in either the Tai Chi or stretching programs as determined by primary care physicians
- Any intra-articular steroid injections in the previous 3 months or reconstructive surgery on the affected knee
- Any intra-articular Synvisc or Hyalgan injections in the previous 6 months
- Inability to pass the Mini-Mental Status examination (with a score below 24)
- Enrollment in any other clinical trial within the last 30 days
- Plan to permanently relocate from the region during the trial period
- Non English Speaking
Where it is running
- Tufts Medical Center, Division of Rheumatology — Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov
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