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Completed

NCT Number: NCT03155737

Self-administered Acupressure for Knee Osteoarthritis: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Objectives: To test the feasibility of the study design and clinical effects of self-administered acupressure on relieving knee osteoarthritis (OA) pain.

Hypothesis: self-administered acupressure would have a superior beneficial effect compared to health education control group in terms of pain relief in patients with knee osteoarthritis across the 6-week study period.

Design and subjects: A pilot randomized controlled trial. 36 subjects with knee OA will be recruited; 18 per group. All eligible subjects will be randomized to either self-administered acupressure or health education control group in 1:1 ratio.

Interventions: Subjects in the self-acupressure group will attend two 1.5 hours training sessions to learn self-acupressure and will practice self-acupressure every morning and night for 6 weeks; subjects in the education control group will receive two 1.5 hours training sessions to learn the health information related to knee OA.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcome measure is the numerical rating scale for knee pain. Other measures include Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index, knees' range of motion (ROM), and SF-6D. Acceptability of the self-acupressure training course will also be evaluated.

Data Analysis: Differences in the questionnaire scores and ROM will be examined using a mixed-effects model. Both completer and intention-to-treat analyses will be conducted. Effect sizes will be computed by dividing the difference in means by the pooled standard deviation.

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Key information

Conditions

Knee Osteoarthritis Arthritis Joint Diseases Musculoskeletal Diseases Osteoarthritis Osteoarthritis, Knee Rheumatic Diseases

Age range

50 year–70 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

School of Nursing, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hong Kong

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • ethnic Chinese;
  • aged 50 -70 years
  • fulfills any 3 of the following criteria proposed by Altman et al., (1986): ( I. morning stiffness</= 30 min; ii. crepitus on active joint motion; iii. bone tenderness; iv. bone enlargement; or v. no palpable joint warmth);
  • having knee pain for at least 3 months;
  • ability to provide informed consent;
  • ability to comprehend Chinese; and
  • Knee pain ≥3/10 and </= 7 on a Likert pain scale from 1-10

Exclusion criteria

  • medical diagnoses or conditions that preclude individuals from active participation (bleeding disorders, alcohol or drug abuse);
  • presence of skin lesions or infections at the treatment sites;
  • currently participating in other interventional research studies for knee OA;
  • cognitive impairment preventing informed consent or understanding of instructions
  • body mass index over 25, the obese criteria for Asians (Anuurad et al., 2003);
  • knee pain related to other conditions (cancer, fracture, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatism) as screened according to the red flags for further investigation or referral in the NICE 2014 Guidelines for Osteoarthritis of the knee;
  • had previous foot injury or trauma;
  • using of steroid for knee pain;
  • pregnancy or contemplating pregnancy;
  • ever received acupressure for knee OA over the past 6 months.

Treatment and study plan

Self-acupressure

Other

A training course will be offered to subjects in this group to train them to perform self-acupressure.

Knee health education

Other

A course regarding knee health will be offered to the subjects in this group.

Primary outcomes

  1. Pain severity numerical rating scale

    Time frame: Week 6

    A single 11-point numeric scale ranges from 0 to 10 in 1 cm intervals (zero: no pain, 10: greatest pain imaginable).

Secondary outcomes

  1. Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC)

    Time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 6

    The Western and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC, Likert version 3.1) covered pain, physical function, and stiffness related to knee osteoarthritis. The physical function subscale (consisting of 17 items) will be adopted to assess the level of physical function in patients with knee osteoarthritis under different activities.

  2. Range of motion (ROM)

    Time frame: Baseline, Week 6

    Range of motion is recorded in degrees by using a goniometer. ROM can be used to address the inter-relationship between ROMs of joint action and disability in patient with knee OA.

  3. Short Form 6D (SF-6D)

    Time frame: Baseline, Week 6

    The Short Form -6D is a preference-based measure of health derived from a selection of SF-36 items for economic evaluation.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Self-administered Acupressure for Knee Osteoarthritis in Middle- and Older Adults: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Important dates

Study start
2017
Primary completion
2017
Study completion
2018
First posted
May 16, 2017
Registry last updated
Sep 22, 2023

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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