Immediate outcomes following the GLA:D® program in Denmark, Canada and Australia. A longitudinal analysis including 28,370 patients with symptomatic knee or hip osteoarthritis

Review written by Dr Mariana Wingood info

Key Points

  1. Exercise combined with patient education is an underutilized intervention for patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis (OA).
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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Research continues to recommend exercise and patient education as first line treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) (1). Yet, patients with OA are not receiving exercise prescriptions regularly (1). To address this gap, the authors of this study designed an exercise initiative titled “Good Life with OsteoArthritis (GLA:D®)”. The GLA:D® program is a structured 8-week long education and exercise program targeted for individuals with symptomatic knee and hip OA (2). See Table 1 for program details (2,3).

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According to GLA:D®’s initial intervention study, participants of GLA:D® had lower pain intensity, improved quality of life, improved physical function, improved physical activity, lower needs for painkillers, and fewer missed days from work (2). However, since this was the first study looking at GLA:D®, a follow-up study needed to be conducted to identify if the outcomes were replicable. This study aimed to examine if the outcomes of GLA:D® were similar across three different countries.

Research continues to recommend exercise and patient education as first line treatment for osteoarthritis.
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The GLA:D® program has strong potential to impact the life and function of a patient with hip or knee osteoarthritis.

METHODS

  • Location: Denmark (2013), Canada (2015), and Australia (2016)
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