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Knee OsteoarthritisFiREwORKNCT03796832

Footwear and Exercise for Knee Osteoarthritis (FiREwORK Trial)

A study testing Flat Flexible Shoes, Stable Supportive Shoes and Exercise Therapy in people with Knee Osteoarthritis, run by University Ghent at 1 site in Belgium.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease and leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability worldwide. The high rates of knee replacement surgery worldwide emphasize the need for more effective non-surgical interventions to attenuate progressive disability. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 50 years and older
Conditions the study is for
Knee Osteoarthritis
What is being tested?
Flat Flexible Shoes, Stable Supportive Shoes and Exercise Therapy
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
97 participants
Where
1 siteBelgium
Study dates
28 Jan 2019to 1 Jun 2022
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 50 years and older
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Symptomatic and radiographic diagnosis of knee OA as per the American College of Rheumatology criteria (ie, aged≥50, knee pain on most days and osteophytes)
  • Radiographic evidence of medial OA (ie, Kellgren Lawrence(KL) grade ≥2, ≥grade 1 medial joint space narrowing (JSN) (scale 0-3)> lateral JSN, using a standardized atlas)
  • Average knee pain on walking over the past week of ≥4 on a 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS; "0=no pain" to "10=worst pain imaginable")
  • Ability to walk unaided
  • Willing to comply with therapy prescriptions
  • Sufficient understanding of the Dutch language

Who cannot join

  • Current and previous (3 months) participation in exercise therapy
  • Current and previous (3 months) use of customised footwear, minimalist shoes, insoles, braces and unable/unwilling to abandon during the study
  • Knee surgery in either knee and/or injections (corticosteroids, hyaluronic acid) in the study knee (most painful knee or right knee if both equally painful) in the past 6 months
  • Current or recent (4 weeks) use of oral corticosteroids
  • Knee replacement or high tibial osteotomy surgery in the past, or planned during the study
  • Inflammatory arthropathies
Show all 11Show fewer
  • Other muscular, joint, neurological or metabolic conditions affecting lower limb function and/or precluding safe regular participation in exercise therapy and walking
  • Body mass index (BMI) of >36 kg/m2 (due to difficulties performing gait analysis and MRI)
  • Foot/ankle pain/pathologies at either side, and worse than knee pain complaints
  • Contra-indications for radiography \& MRI
  • Use of supplements (eg, glucosamine, chondroitin, curcuma derivates) or pain medication (NSAIDs, paracetamol) or other disease modifying or anti-bone resorptive drugs if participants were not on a stable dose for ≥2 months prior to entering the trial

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Belgium1 site
  • Ghent University, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences

    Ghent, 9000

Other trials in Belgium

About this study

Official title: The FiREwORK Trial - Self-management With FootweaR Combined With Exercise for OsteoaRthritis (OA) at the Knee: a Phase II Randomized Controlled Trial

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a chronic degenerative joint disease and leading cause of musculoskeletal pain and disability worldwide. The high rates of knee replacement surgery worldwide emphasize the need for more effective non-surgical interventions to attenuate progressive disability. International scientific and professional societies also propose that therapies need to seek efficacious combinations of modalities with the ultimate aim to achieve longer-term, optimal and synergistic treatment effects.

Exercise therapy, such as strengthening and aerobic exercise, is universally, and strongly, recommended as it demonstrates beneficial effects on clinical symptoms and is considered safe for all patients with knee OA. However, during activities as simple as walking, higher knee joint loads have been demonstrated in people with medial tibiofemoral OA, a common form of knee OA. Increased joint loading as such may elicit aggravated symptoms and accelerated joint structural decline over time. No convincing evidence exists to confirm exercise therapy effectively alters joint loading parameters during walking gait in people with knee OA. Notably, recent studies suggest that wearing appropriate footwear may help offload the joint in people with knee OA, a strategy that is also easily applicable at a wide population level.

Read more

The purpose of this clinical study is to compare 9-month treatment consisting of exercise therapy and daily wear of one of two shoe classes (flat flexible shoes or stable supportive shoes), on symptom relief and joint structural damage in people with knee OA. In this study, we will randomly allocate eligible participants in one of two treatment arms. This means there will be an equal amount of participants in each group, and participants nor researchers will be able to choose in which group participants will end up in.Participants in both groups will enroll in a 9 month exercise program and will be provided a pair of one of the two shoe classes to wear daily. To ensure an unbiased appraisal of treatment effects, we will not disclose the study hypotheses to participants during the intervention period.

The results of this study will help determine whether the addition of appropriate footwear to exercise therapy improves symptom relief and/or slows structural disease progression in people with knee OA.

Being tested
Flat Flexible Shoes, Stable Supportive Shoes, Exercise Therapy
Keywords
Knee Osteoarthritis, Exercise Therapy, Shoes, Pain
Medical subject headings
Osteoarthritis, Knee, Pain

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Flat Flexible ShoesDevice

    Off-the-shelf commercially available shoes will be used compliant with previously published criteria: (i) heel height <15 mm, (ii) shoe pitch <10 mm, (iii) absent arch support/motion control, (iv) minimal sole rigidity, (v) weight <=200g (+/-10%). Participants will be instructed to wear the shoes at least 4 hours daily for the duration of the 9-month intervention and to avoid wearing other types of shoes, if possible.

  • Stable Supportive ShoesDevice

    Off-the-shelf commercially available shoes will be used compliant with previously published criteria: (i) heel height >30 mm, (ii) shoe pitch >10 mm, (iii) present arch support/motion control, (iv) sole rigidity, (v) weight >300g (+/-10%). Participants will be instructed to wear the shoes at least 4 hours daily for the duration of the 9-month intervention and to avoid wearing other types of shoes, if possible.

  • Exercise TherapyOther

    The 3-month supervised exercise program will consist of one group session per week of approximately 30 minutes complemented with home-based exercises 3 times per week. Group sessions will consist of a 10-min warm-up followed by a circuit training of strengthening and/or neuromuscular exercises. Subsequently, during a 6-month unsupervised home exercise program, participants will perform strengthening exercises of the lower limb muscles 3 times weekly. Throughout the 9-month intervention, participants will be encouraged to maintain a daily routine of aerobic exercises, consisting of structured activity bouts of at least 10 minutes at a moderate intensity (grade 5-6 (out of 10, maximum exertion) on a Rate of Perceived Exertion scale), achieving at least 70 minutes of weekly physical activity at 3 months and 150 minutes at 9 months.

Study groups in NCT03796832
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Flat Flexible Shoes+Exercise TherapyExperimentalThis arm will wear Flat Flexible Shoes daily for the duration of 9 months combined with supervised facility-based and home-based exercise therapy (months 0-3) and unsupervised home-based exercise therapy (months 4-9).
Receives: Device: Flat Flexible Shoes; Other: Exercise Therapy
Stable Supportive Shoes+Exercise TherapyActive comparatorThis arm will wear Stable Supportive Shoes daily for the duration of 9 months combined with supervised facility-based and home-based exercise therapy (months 0-3) and unsupervised home-based exercise therapy (months 4-9).
Receives: Device: Stable Supportive Shoes; Other: Exercise Therapy

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in severity of knee pain on walking

    Scored on an 11-point numeric rating scale for average knee pain on walking over the past week, with terminal descriptors of "0=no pain" to "10=worst pain imaginable".

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

Secondary outcomes (11)
  1. Severity of intercondylar synovitis

    Graded using the MRI Osteoarthritis Knee Score hoffa-synovitis sub-score, ranging grade 0 (normal) to grade 3 (severe).

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

  2. Severity of whole knee effusion

    Graded using the MRI Osteoarthritis Knee Score effusion-synovitis sub-score, ranging grade 0 (physiologic amount) to grade 3 (large - evidence of capsular distention).

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

  3. Severity of bone marrow lesions

    Graded using the MRI Osteoarthritis Knee Score bone marrow lesion sub-score, grade 0 (none) to grade 3 (>66% of subregional volume).

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

  4. Severity of physical dysfunction

    Measured with the function subscale of the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) Osteoarthritis Index. This sub-scale gives a range of possible scores from "0=no dysfunction" to "68=maximum dysfunction".

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

  5. Severity of knee pain overall

    Scored on an 11-point numeric rating scale for average knee pain overall the past week, with terminal descriptors of "0=no pain" to "10=worst pain imaginable".

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

  6. Participant-perceived global change in pain

    Scored on a 7-point ordinal scale (with terminal descriptors of "1=much worse" to "7=much better"). Participants who report they are "moderately better" and above will be classified as "improved".

    Measured: Measured at 13 and 37 weeks

  7. Participant-perceived global change in physical function

    Scored on a 7-point ordinal scale (with terminal descriptors of "1=much worse" to "7=much better"). Participants who report they are "moderately better" and above will be classified as "improved".

    Measured: Measured at 13 and 37 weeks

  8. Participant-perceived global change overall

    Scored on a 7-point ordinal scale (with terminal descriptors of "1=much worse" to "7=much better"). Participants who report they are "moderately better" and above will be classified as "improved".

    Measured: Measured at 13 and 37 weeks

  9. Average Daily Step Count

    Measured using a pedometer attached to the hip for 7 subsequent days to assess objective physical activity.

    Measured: Measured during weeks 1, 12 and 36

  10. Habitual physical activity level

    Measured using the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly with scores ranging 0-400 where higher scores indicate greater physical activity.

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

  11. Health-related quality of life

    Measured using the EuroQoL Quality of Life Scale (EQ-5D) with scores ranging from 0 to 100 (higher scores indication better health-related quality of life).

    Measured: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted8 Jan 2019
  2. Study start28 Jan 2019
  3. Primary completion1 Jun 2022
  4. Study completion1 Jun 2022

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
This will be a mono-centre randomized controlled trial with a 1:1 allocation into the experimental treatment (exercise therapy and Flat Flexible Shoes) and comparator treatment (exercise therapy and Stable Supportive Shoes). Exercise therapy will consist of supervised facility- and home-based exercises for 3 months (primary time point) and unsupervised home-based exercises for a subsequent 6 months (secondary time point).
Masking
Triple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
97 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT03796832
Sponsor's protocol ID
B670201835057
Other IDs
G013318N, U1111-1225-9954
Acronym
FiREwORK
Status last verified
Oct 2023
First submitted
21 Dec 2018
Last updated
23 Oct 2023
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Dainese P, Stautemas J, De Mits S, Wittoek R, Van Ginckel A, Huysse W, Demeyer H, Mahieu H, Calders P. Exercise and footwear in medial knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial comparing flat flexible footwear to stable supportive shoes. Rheumatol Adv Pract. 2024 Oct 30;8(4):rkae133. doi: 10.1093/rap/rkae133. eCollection 2024.

    PubMed 39669115

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Flat Flexible Shoes, Stable Supportive Shoes and Exercise Therapy in people with Knee Osteoarthritis, run by University Ghent at 1 site in Belgium.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 11 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 23 Oct 2023. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Belgium. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in severity of knee pain on walking (time frame: Measured at baseline, 13 and 37 weeks). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT03796832, which also lists 1 linked publication.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 23 Oct 2023.

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