The Ottawa Panel guidelines on programmes involving therapeutic exercise for the management of hand osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE:: To identify programmes involving therapeutic exercise that are effective for the management of hand osteoarthritis and to provide stakeholders with updated, moderate to high-quality recommendations supporting exercises for hand osteoarthritis. METHODS:: A systematic search and adapted selection criteria included comparable trials with exercise programmes for managing hand osteoarthritis. Based on the evaluated evidence, a panel of experts reached consensus through a Delphi approach endorsing the recommendations. A hierarchical alphabetical grading system (A, B, C+, C, C-, D-, D, D+, E, F) was based on clinical importance (≥15%) and statistical significance ( P < 0.05). RESULTS:: Ten moderate- to high-quality studies were included. Eight studies with programmes involving therapeutic exercise (e.g. range of motion (ROM) + isotonic + isometric + functional exercise) seemed to be effective. Forty-six positive grade recommendations (i.e. A, B, C+) were obtained during short-term (<12 weeks) trials for pain, stiffness, physical function, grip strength, pinch strength, range of motion, global assessment, pressure pain threshold, fatigue and abductor pollicis longus moment and during long-term (>12 weeks) trials for physical function and pinch strength. CONCLUSION:: Despite that many programmes involving exercise with positive recommendations for clinical outcomes are available to healthcare professionals and hand osteoarthritis patients that aid in the management of hand osteoarthritis, there is a need for further research to isolate the specific effect of exercise components.

Assessment of the content reporting for therapeutic exercise interventions among existing randomized controlled trials on knee osteoarthritis.

Purpose/Rationale: Physical exercise interventions for the management of knee osteoarthritis are well known to be effective and accessible forms of rehabilitation and symptom management. However, without adequate reporting of these interventions, accurate replication and clinical use is negatively impacted. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this article was to assess content reporting using The Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template list and 2016 American College of Sports Medicine guidelines among moderate- to high-quality exercise interventions randomized controlled trials (total score of ≥6/10 on the PEDro scale) involving individuals with knee osteoarthritis. RESULTS: The Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template mean total score for all 47 included randomized controlled trials was 4.42 out of 19, demonstrating generally low quality of reporting. The Consensus on Exercise Reporting Template list and the 2016 American College of Sports Medicine guidelines scores were moderately correlated (based on 95% confidence interval, intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.508) for aerobic interventions only. CONCLUSION: The content analysis of exercise interventions in knee osteoarthritis demonstrated low scores for moderate- to high-quality trials. Improved standardized reporting is recommended to ensure knowledge transfer and replication of effective exercise programs for individuals with knee osteoarthritis.