Two telehealth interventions involving education and exercise, with and without dietary intervention, improve pain and function for people with knee osteoarthritis and overweight or obesity, with the diet and exercise program offering additional benefit over-exercise, according to a study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Kim L. Bennell, PhD, and colleagues assessed two 6-month, telehealth-delivered exercise programs (one with and one without dietary intervention) in a three-group, parallel randomized trial. All groups received access to online educational material about osteoarthritis (control). A total of 415 patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis and BMI between 28 and 40 kg/m2 aged 45-80 were included. Both programs were superior to control for pain (between-group mean difference in change on numerical rating scale, −1.5 and −0.8 for diet and exercise and exercise, respectively) and function (between-group mean difference in change on Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, −9.8 and −7.0, respectively) at 6 months. The diet and exercise program was superior to exercise for pain and function (−0.6 and −2.8, respectively). Similar findings were seen at 12 months.

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