Can an intensive diet and exercise program prevent knee pain among overweight adults at high risk?

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Abstract

Background: It is unclear whether an intensive program of weight loss combined with exercise prevents the onset of knee pain among those at high risk. We examined whether an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) prevents incident knee pain compared with a diabetes support and education (DSE) comparison group among overweight adults with diabetes. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of the Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD) study, which is a randomized intervention trial of adults who were obese and had type 2 diabetes starting in 2001. We studied a sub-cohort of 2889 who reported no knee pain at baseline, but were at high risk due to obesity. Risk ratios (RR) were calculated to examine the association of ILI vs. DSE with incident knee pain at year 1 and 4. All analyses were adjusted for potential confounders. Results: Age, sex, and BMI were similar among ILI and DSE participants with no knee pain at baseline. At year 1, ILI participants were 15% less likely to develop knee pain compared with DSE participants (RR = 0.85, 95% CI [0.74, 0.98]). At year 4, this decreased to 5% and was no longer statistically significant. Conclusions: An intensive lifestyle intervention of diet and exercise may prevent the development of knee pain among those at high risk in the short-term. Health care providers may consider recommending diet and exercise as a means to prevent the development of knee pain among those at high risk. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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