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The following is a summary of “Temporal Associations of Physical Activity With Subsequent Knee Pain in Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis: An Ecological Momentary Assessment Study,” published in the April 2025 issue of European Journal of Pain by Chang et al. 

Physical activity (PA) had been recognized as a first-line treatment for knee osteoarthritis (OA), offering functional improvement and pain relief, although movement-evoked pain often limited participation and long-term adherence.  

Researchers conducted a retrospective study investigating the temporal associations between PA and subsequent knee pain in individuals with knee OA.  

They performed a 10-day ecological momentary assessment (EMA) cohort study, recording PA with an Actigraph accelerometer. Momentary knee pain intensity was rated on a numeric rating scale in response to 4 daily text prompts and used linear mixed-effects models to examine within-day and between-day associations between PA and knee pain, adjusting for age, sex, and BMI.  

The results showed up to 454 observations over 10 days from 17 participants (age = 64 ± 7 years, BMI = 27 ± 4 kg/m², 61% women), each pairing PA minutes with subsequent knee pain. A greater moderate-to-vigorous PA (MVPA) minutes within the day were linked to increased knee pain (adjusted β = 0.112, 95% CI: 0.023, 0.201, P = 0.014), while light-intensity PA showed no such association (adjusted β = −0.003, 95% CI: −0.011, 0.005, P = 0.461) and there was no association between current-day MVPA or light-intensity PA minutes and next-day knee pain.  

Investigators concluded that while MVPA temporarily increased knee pain, light-intensity PA showed no association with pain and might be a suitable alternative for those with movement-evoked pain. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ejp.70026